The Evil In Men's Hearts
by knittingknots
Summary: After the death of Naraku, an attack on InuYasha and Kagome leads to the discovery of a  priest at war with youkai and hanyou,  a mysterious Inu Youkai, fox magic, and a beautiful Kami who has plans of her own.  IK, MS.   WIP
1. Stink Pellets and an Ambush

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter One: Stink Pellets and an Ambush

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Live in joy and in kindness even among those who hate.

Live in joy and in health even among the sick.

Live in joy and peace even among the troubled.

Live in joy and freedom as the Shining Ones.

----Dhammapada, chapt. 15

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InuYasha woke up to find himself in a dark and musty cellar. The cool, dark room smelled of rotten cabbages and old pickle mash. As he came to, he discovered that he was pinned into a recessed alcove, warded in by ofuda and immobilized by another. He might have as well have been walled in by how much he could move.

He blinked and shook his head, trying to get his bearings and assess what was going on, but mostly he knew he had a throbbing headache from the attack. His nose was still half numb, and he had no idea how long he had been in this place. His last memory before waking up in the cellar was of being attacked and her shrieking his name. 

"Oh Kagome, " he muttered. "I am so so sorry."

There were some voices outside of the cellar, and his ears twitched to pick up the sound. The voices were followed by a thud, and suddenly the door was thrown open.

Light poured in from the outside. He turned his head to shield his eyes from the sudden change of light. After a moment, he saw a backlit intruder enter, and as he came closer, resolve into the black and purple robes of an itinerant monk. The monk hurried down the steps.

"Tired of the dark?" the monk asked.

"Don't you know it," InuYasha growled. "About time you showed up, Miroku. Get their damn stinking ofuda off me. We got to go find Kagome! No telling what those damn bastards have done to her by now."

Miroku quickly removed the wards around the alcove. "I sent Sango and Kirara to go look for Kagome before I came here. Kirara's nose is probably working better than yours right now." He pulled InuYasha up and out of the alcove and removed the immobilization ward off of the hanyou's back.

Free to move again, InuYasha stumbled forward, caught himself, shook his arms to get the blood flowing.

"Want this?" Miroku asked, handing InuYasha his sword. " It was sitting outside the door. Thought you might miss it."

"You know it." He then unsheathed his blade and dashed up to the top of the stairs. "Let's go rescue Kagome and get the bastards that did this."

Kagome knelt on the bare earth in a windowless hut in another part of the village. Her hands were bound behind her back, the rough hemp cord chafing her wrists.

Everything had happened so quickly. She and InuYasha had entered this village, looking to buy some supplies, waiting for Sango and Miroku to catch up with them when suddenly someone had used a stink pellet. It worked just as well as the ones Sango carried. As it went off right in front of InuYasha, he collapsed almost immediately. She screamed out his name while rough hands pulled her away. Men dressed as some sort of monks forced them apart, binding her hands and throwing her into this cell. 

It had been hours now. Besides the rough handling when they separated the two of them, they had left her alone. Occasionally, she would hear voices talking outside of the hut, and she had learned they were waiting on someone named Jomei. 

"InuYasha," she whispered. "What have they done to you?"

"Yo, Danno," came a voice right outside of the hut. "I hear we got a good looker this time."

"Stop your daydreaming. Master Jomei will want her in good shape," came the reply.

"Wonder which brothel he'll sell her off to?" 

"One too good for the likes of you, I'm sure, although all of'em are too good for the likes of her," replied Danno. "Only fit to be a whore, anyway, being with that youkai. She'll need to do some serious atoning."

"Did you see his ears? Had to be a hanyou. Bet you could get some youkai to pay for the privilege of putting him down."

His companion chuckled. "Sooner he's put down, sooner he'll get a chance to make it to the Pure Land, that's true."

Kagome could feel her blood turning into ice water. 

"Excuse me, friends," came a familiar voice. "I think I detect an evil aura around this place."

"What the---"

Suddenly she heard thuds and the sounds of a short struggle.

The door flew open. 

"Kagome!"

Amber eyes met hers, strong red-cloaked arms wrapped around her. "Let's get out of here."


	2. Ways of Compassion

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter Two Ways of Compassion

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Sentient beings are numberless - I vow to save them all.

--First Great Bodhisattva Vow

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An angry and ready to fight InuYasha ran over to Kagome, grabbed her, checking her scent. "Are you hurt?"

Kagome heard shouts and perhaps the sound of running from outside.

"No, not really. How about you?" she said.

"Nothing that will slow us down. Good thing, too, cause it sounds like we have some company." 

She could hear the sound of Sango's and Miroku's voices. InuYasha sliced the rope binding her hands with one sharp claw, threw her on his back, and ran. Outside the door were two unconscious men, maybe monks. InuYasha didn't slow down to make sure. 

"Good work, you two. But we better run now," InuYasha said to the monk and the slayer. 

"Don't let him get away, or we'll lose the bounty!" someone yelled. "Jomei won't pay for lost youkai!" 

Some local men armed with farming tools started to give chase to the hanyou. InuYasha started leaping and they lost track. Miroku and Sango, somewhat ignored in the frenzy over lost monies, followed at a more leisurely pace on Kirara's back. By the time the foursome got into the deep forest beyond the village's land, the last of the villagers had given up and headed back. Reaching a defensible clearing well past the last of the village's fields, InuYasha stopped and let Kagome off his shoulders. 

"Damned bastards, " said InuYasha, pulling her close to him. "I'm so sorry, Kagome. I never wanted you to go through anything like that."

"I know," she replied. "But we're here now. It's alright," She looked up at him, and saw how he was tired and relieved, but still frightened. 

"But it's not alright! They were going to hurt you because you were with me! And I couldn't do anything about it." 

He was very angry. Some of that, she thought, was fear at what might have been. She reached up, touched his cheek with her fingers.

"That's why we have friends," she said.

Just then, Kirara flew down and let the others off and transformed.

"I am ready for a break, friends. I don't think we've had a morning anywhere this exciting since Naraku died," said Miroku. "I thought this was supposed to be a quiet trip before our wedding, one last journey to enjoy ourselves. Evidently some people didn't get the news."

He plopped down and laid his staff across his lap. "O lovely Sango, will you join me?" He patted the ground next to him.

Sango still dressed in her armor and not her traveling kimono did. "I'm glad we left Shippou at home with Kaede this time. I have no idea what those monsters would have wanted to do with him. So what happened before we got there, Kagome-chan?"

"We were walking through the village about to see about getting some tea, and someone used a stink pellet to knock InuYasha out," Kagome said. She took a water bottle out of her bag and took a long drink, then passed it to InuYasha who drank the rest of it down. "They separated us, and I was in that hut until you came and got me. They were some sort of monks, I think."

"That's who were guarding you and InuYasha," Miroku said. 

"I heard one of them say they were waiting for Master Jomei to arrive before doing anything with us," Kagome said.

"That name rings a bell," said Miroku. "But I don't remember why. I have to think about it."

After their break, they continued to travel as quickly as possible until they were too tired to continue, going cross country and avoiding the roads. Their passage wasn't totally unnoticed, though. As a single itinerant monk looked up, he saw Kirara speed across the sky. He watched thoughtfully, then continued towards the village.

Eventually, they made camp for the the night.

Sango was polishing her Hiraikotsu and looking at her friends. InuYasha had pulled Kagome close, with an arm wrapped around her. Her head leaned on his shoulder, thoughts turned inward. Miroku was staring at an ofuda he had in his lap.

"Who would have thought that us leaving you to chase down a small rat youkai for that farmer would have caused so much trouble?" Sango asked, just to break the silence. 

"Hn," said InuYasha.

"Kagome - You are sure you heard those men mention Master Jomei?" asked Miroku, looking up from the paper.

She nodded.

"I finally remembered where I heard that name. Mushin told me about a sohei, a warrior monk and abbot who was named Teiji. This monk taught that it was a high act of compassion to take the lives of youkai because it allowed them to proceed on their way towards enlightenment, and if it were done by a monk with the right intention, the youkai would be reborn into the Pure Land immediately. Thus being a youkai destroyer was an act of true compassion. I heard his chief disciple was named Jomei."

"Jomei and Teiji?" Sango said. "We had a sohei come and visit my village a couple of years before --" She looked down for a moment. "Well, before I joined you. He was teaching just that thing. About how our work was helping Amida-sama carry out his work of saving souls by liberating youkai to be reborn. I don't know what my father thought about him, but I know he gave him some stuff...some stink pellets and some food and a naganata, and the sohei gave us his blessing." 

She looked down at her weapon, looked up at Miroku. "Oh. I wonder..."

"It's possible, I suppose, if the Jomei I heard about and the Jomei the monks were talking about are the same person," Miroku said. "The pellet that took InuYasha down seems to have worked very well."

"Perhaps they've set up a new temple nearby. We've been around here before and never had anybody actually try to hurt us for being with you, InuYasha," said Sango "This is something new."

Throwing another piece of wood on the fire, InuYasha thought for a moment about the words he had heard people say around here. He knew the monks' message was falling on fertile ground even if the locals hadn't actually tried to harm him or his little pack before. 

"Sesshoumaru will not be happy that youkai hunting monks have moved into the Western Lands," he said. "Perhaps we should go find him."


	3. Travelers

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. 

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 3: Travelers

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Long is the night to him who is awake; 

long is a mile to him who is tired; 

long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.

If a traveler does not meet with one who is his better, or his equal, 

let him firmly keep to his solitary journey; there is no companionship with a fool.

'These sons belong to me, and this wealth belongs to me,' with such thoughts a fool is tormented. 

He himself does not belong to himself; how much less sons and wealth?

The fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least so far. 

But a fool who thinks himself wise, he is called a fool indeed.

---Dhammapada, Chapter 5

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Kagome woke up suddenly, stifling a sob in her throat, and sat up. "What an awful dream!" she said, shaking the webs of the nightmare out of her head.

The camp site was quiet and dark. It was hard to see the shapes of her sleeping companions except as muffled shadows. The campfire had burned very low, until it was mostly a deep reddish glow, giving off very little light. Kagome moved over to the fire, stirred it with a stick, added some twigs, and blew on it slightly to get some flame going, then added more wood. She didn't want to sit in the darkness. The night felt too cool, heavy and oppressive to her. She reached for her bag, pulled out a sweater, tugged it on.

There was the softest of thuds and the rustle of fabric behind her as InuYasha slipped out of the tree he had been sleeping in. In the months since the death of Naraku, Kagome and InuYasha had developed an easy intimacy, but he still preferred to sleep in trees when they were camping out. 

"Oi, woman. It's too early to be up," he said softly, coming to sit down beside her, sensing her distress. "You were crying out in your sleep."

She her dark head against his shoulder. "Bad dreams," she said, leaning her head into his shoulder. "I decided to sit up for awhile."

"Yesterday was a hard day," InuYasha said as wrapped a protective arm around her, but his eyes carried a mix of sadness and guilt. 

She nodded, bit her bottom lip. "I had a dream we were back there, and this time they didn't just knock you out. They had purified all your youki, and you were laying there wounded and so still..."

"But they didn't and I'm here with you," he said.

"I overheard them," she said. "Before you freed me. Two of the guards talking. They believed that their Master Jomei was going to have you killed and was going to sell me off to a brothel. All so we could pay a karmic debt and achieve the Pure Land."

He tensed, then pulled her to him tighter, protectively. "Bastards. I was too nice to them when we were leaving the village."

They sat there quietly for several minutes. InuYasha relaxed a little, but she could still feel the anger in him.

"I am sorry, Kagome. I didn't want you to have to deal what people would do to you because of me," he said softly. "If I wasn't such a selfish bastard, I'd have sent you home before the well closed. You don't deserve to go through this."

She sat up, took his face in her hands. "Don't ever say that, InuYasha. You are not responsible for all the evil in men's hearts. I am here because I know you and I choose to be."

Kagome lightly brushed her lips against his. "You are my hanyou, and I love you," she whispered.

He pulled her closer, buried his face in her hair, her scent. 

Later, at sunrise, Miroku would wake up to find them curled up together, sound asleep. Somehow he avoided the temptation to tease them.

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The air here was touched by incense. Jomei -- sensei, sohei, priest and monk-- stood before the small temple and looked over the small establishment. He wore the hood, hakama and dark robes of a sohei, a warrior priest, but his being radiated calm and peace, not aggression as he waited for his companion to catch up with him. There was something about him that inspired trust in his fellows. 

Yashuo, the shrine keeper, a thin and tall man, moving with a certain hesitancy, as if one of his legs was sore, walked up to join the sensei. He sported an assortment of bruises and scrapes, as if he had just recently been in a fight. Bowing in greeting, he found himself warming to the master.

"This is a good place for us even when there are troubles like yesterday. We have an agreement with the village headman. If possible, if a youkai comes to the area, and we can take him safely, my brothers and I will try to ambush him," said Yashuo "He will help if necessary and is pleased by the bounty that our temple supplies after such an event." They stopped at a garden behind the temple, sat down in the quiet morning sunshine.

"It is a good arrangement with so few of you here," said Master Jomei. "It is a good work to try to save those poor youkai when the opportunity happens. 

"No words of evil are in His Land;

No fear of evil doers, nor evil paths;

With sincere heart all beings worship Him.

Thus I prostrate myself before Amida Buddha.

His Land of infinite expediencies

Is without degenerate things or wicked beings..." he chanted.

"Yesterday I saw a neko flying, and I could feel the auras that were traveling with it, strong youki. This reminded me how no wicked beings can obtain the Pure Land. What a sadness that such creatures, with their gifts of strength and long life, couldn't obtain salvation until after their deaths and rebirths as a human. They are all lost souls alive. As part of our work, we vow to save all sentient beings. The best we can do for these beings is free them to move on.

"It seems, though, like your and your brothers had a rough day yesterday. Let us discuss what happened," Jomei said.

"Ah, if you saw the neko, then you have seen those people. There were two groups that showed up yesterday. First, a woman and an Inu hanyou came to the village," said Yashuo. "We used our tools, and were able to restrain the hanyou and his woman.

"Several hours later, two others came to the village. One wore the robes of a mendicant monk, the other was a woman in the armor of a taijiya. With them was a youkai neko with two tails. They evidently were companions of the first two. The priest asked some questions, discovered where the hanyou was, and disabled Matso, who was guarding him. Freeing the hanyou, they in turn freed the woman," said Yashuo. "I'm afraid we got a bit battered in the process."

"What an odd group" said Jomei. "A woman and hanyou traveling with a monk and a woman taijiya? Youkai traveling with youkai destroyers?"

"The hanyou had been here before," Yashuo said. "It seems that his group has a reputation for fighting against vicious youkai that threaten people. Someone told me that the woman he was with was a miko. She was not dressed like one, though."

Something about this situation tugged at the back of him mind. But he'd have to wait until later to deal with it. He stood up.

"Now, Yashuo, let's go and talk to the headman. Perhaps we still will want to compensate them for trying to help with the hanyou."

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It was a meadow filled with spring wildflowers, not far from the castle. In it, a single person sat in lotus posture. Dressed in black robes, his long silver hair hung to the ground in a neat braid bound out of his face in a topknot. He had the pointed ears that marked him as youkai, and his face and wrists were marked by purple slashes, obviously Inu youki. Surprisingly, there was a peaceful aura about his person that was unusual in a person with such strong youki, not merely control, but something different.

Sesshoumaru entered the meadow, raised an arm to stop his small ward Rin from dashing into the field. This was a favorite play area of hers, and she was surprised at his motion. 

"Wait, Rin."

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" asked a small green kappa by his side. "Is something amiss?" He looked across the field. "Could it be? Is that..."

The figure stood up, turned. A certain gentle laughter hid in his eyes as he looked at the trio. "Ah, nephew. There you are. What interesting companions you have!"

"Teijo. Uncle." Sesshoumaru replied. The only mark on his face that betrayed that this was a surprising event was a slightly raised eyebrow. "What brings you down from your mountain?"

"I believe your brother's coming to pay you a visit." Teijo smiled. "I believe I wish to be there."


	4. Darkness and an Invitation

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil In Men's Hearts: 

Chapter 4: Darkness and an Invitation

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But though light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists,

Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.

When one realizes shinjin, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,

One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.

All foolish beings, whether good or evil,

When they hear and entrust to Amida's universal vow,

Are praised by the Buddha as people of vast and excellent understanding;

Such a person is called a pure white lotus.

--From the Shoshinge

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Kagome slipped into the hot mineral waters with a sigh of relief.

"It's been too long since we've gotten to do this," said Sango. "Too long since we've had some just girls time."

They were in a secluded hot spring, surrounded by trees. Between the rock rises the spring snuggled in and the vegetation, it was lovely and isolated.

"This is a part about traveling all over the countryside that I really miss," Kagome said. "All these lovely hot springs."

Sango smiled at her, relaxing back into the water. "It seems strange to be talking like that," she said. "Not to always be searching."

"No more shards, no more Naraku -- everything we've been focusing on is done," said Kagome. "Are you scared, Sango?"

"Maybe," she replied. "But it's taken Miroku so long to get back on his feet...healing from the wounds he got, healing from the old shouki poisoning, and then getting a house finished, and getting ready for the wedding. I haven't had time to think much.

"And how are you doing, Kagome?"

Kagome leaned her head back against a rock, closed her eyes. "There are days that have been really hard since the well closed. I really miss my mother and the rest of my family back there. But there's really little else that was home any more. But we finally ran out of ramen and shampoo," she sighed. "I didn't realize the well was going to close up when it did, so I didn't get a chance to stock up. Sort of makes things real..."

"But what about you and InuYasha?" Sango asked.

"He's been restless. I think the villagers get nervous if he's around too much. But he's been encouraging my work with Kaede. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. And I know he misses being able to talk with Miroku. But it'll work out." 

Their voices dropped off into silence for awhile. 

"Wonder how Kohaku and Shippou are doing with Kaede?" Kagome asked.

"More importantly, I wonder how Kaede's doing with Shippou?" 

They giggled.

"Well," said InuYasha, "The girls found the hot spring."

He had waded out into the middle of a quick flowing mountain river, fishing.

"And this surprises you?" asked Miroku, where he laid back on the river bank, looking at the clouds. It was late afternoon, but far earlier than they usually made camp in the old days.

InuYasha kehed. "No, only the fact that you are here instead of sneaking off. You are a reformed man, Miroku." He caught a fish, tossing it up on the bank. "Kagome's been missing Sango, I think."

Miroku sat back up, watched InuYasha toss another fish to the riverbank. "I've never quite understood how you can catch fish that way."

"If you got hungry enough, you'd learn." he said, amused. "Easier than understanding women."

"I believe you are correct! Sango wanted to go back to the slayer's village and rebuild, but she's been missing Lady Kagome, too. And Kohaku is so withdrawn. I wonder if moving there was really that good of an idea. But that's what she wants." 

"You could come back to Kaede's village." InuYasha said.

Miroku almost got hit by a fish flying to join the others. "And you could come with us to the slayer's village."

"Don't think I could get Kagome away from Kaede. Since the well closed..." 

"How is the Lady Kagome taking that?" Miroku asked.

"Good days and bad. I wish it hadn't happened." He tossed one more fish up the bank. "That should be enough for tonight."

He stretched, then slogged out of the water, sat down next to Miroku, sighed. "The Shikon no Tama has not been good to her, sticking her here, taking away her chance to be with her family. Stuck her with me." He picked up a short branch laying on the ground, toyed with it.

Miroku looked at his friend. "She wouldn't have it any other way, friend. Even if there are people like Jomei and his disciples."

"Don't make it any better," InuYasha said. "The bastards wanted to sell her to slavers just because she was with me. I want to hurt them." He snapped the branch in half.

"It's not like that at Kaede's village," Miroku said.

"No, but I still make them nervous. Damn it, most of'em were raised with me being the monster their parents threatened them with if they were bad as kids. 'If you're not good, InuYasha will get off his tree and come eat you!' Anything happens to me, I don't know what they'll do. Kagome working with Kaede helps, I think." 

He took one of the fish, began to prepare it. "Kuso. If these guys are starting to spread their poison in the Western Lands, even the village could become a problem. I don't want anything near to what happened to my mother to happen to Kagome. I have to keep her safe."

"You think Sesshoumaru will do anything?" Miroku asked.

"I never know what that bastard brother of mine will do. He normally ignores the humans on his lands. But I know he cares about that brat who travels with him. I'd hate to see what would happen if anybody tried to pull Rin away from him. Look what happened when Naraku went after her. It's the type of thing I think he'd want to know."

InuYasha stood up with his fish, and started moving back to camp. "Wonder if the girls are done yet?"

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Later that night, Jomei bolted upright, fully awake.

It was well after midnight, and he was camped out on the road on the way to visit the next temple on his circuit. His small camp was off the road, snuggled next to a rock outcropping. 

He could feel the strong presence of youki touching his senses, setting his teeth on edge. By his campfire, he saw a shadow-wrapped person. This person had stirred the fire back to flame, although sitting far enough back to be difficult to see, and was chanting softly:

"O Shariputra, 

form does not differ from emptiness; 

emptiness does not differ from form. 

That which is form is emptiness; 

that which is emptiness form. 

The same is true of feelings, perceptions, formations, consciousness.

"O Shariputra, 

all dharmas are marked with emptiness. 

they do not appear nor disappear, 

are not tainted nor pure, 

do not increase nor decrease..."

"The Heart Sutra in the middle of the night?" asked Jomei, softly.

"I greet you, Master Jomei," the figure said, gasshoing in his direction, although not leaving the shadows. The figure was dressed in the flowing robes of a monk.

"Who are you?" the monk asked.

"My name is Matsuo, although I doubt if we have ever met. I suspect that neither I nor any of my brothers would really be welcome in your temples or monasteries." He turned to face him, coming out of the shadows, revealing silver hair, a young face, and two light colored eyes. When the firelight hit them just right, they glowed. "I am, after all, youkai."

"I have traveled a long way to speak with you, Master Jomei. My sensei, Teijo, wishes to invite you to his home. He and the monks of the Riverstone Temple bid you welcome. They have heard that you are searching for Kukai's Hand, and would like to aid you."

"Why would a youkai wish to aid me finding Kukai's Hand? Is it not the relic which will spell the end of youkai in this land?" Jomei asked.

"Master Teijo didn't give me the answer to that one," he said. "He only told me to offer you his aid, and that if you continue west you will meet up with the people who will guide you to Kukai's Hand. Thank you for sharing your fire with me. I will leave you to your rest. Go in peace." 

With that, the youkai dressed as a wandering monk stood up, took his staff and slipped into the shadows.


	5. Waypoints

Disclosure: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters of Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts 

Chapter 5 - Waypoints

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As the rain falls on all plants, 

the Buddha's compassion is extended equally to all.

--The Teachings of Buddha

The faults of others - are they not easy to see?

The faults of our own - are they not most difficult?

--Rennyo Shonin

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Dawn filtered into Miroku's consciousness, and he sat up slowly. Sango's bedroll lay next to his, but she still lay sound asleep. He looked across the clearing to where InuYasha held a sleeping Kagome. InuYasha was propped up on one arm, his amber eyes staring thoughtfully into space while his other arm held her her closely to him.

Miroku stood up, stretched, and moved over to the fire. He stirred it and added some fuel. "Morning, InuYasha," he said, then grabbed the kettle, filled it with water from a bucket and put it on the fire. Once, seeing InuYasha and Kagome wrapped together that way, he would have hazarded a jest. Those times were gone. Instead, his face remained pleasantly neutral while he looked for the makings for tea.

InuYasha, breaking his thought, nodded a greeting at his friend, then gently shook Kagome. 

"Time to wake up, Kagome. I'm going fishing," he said, getting up. He picked up his haori where he had draped it over them like a blanket and shrugged it on. Quietly, he walked out of the campsite and off towards the stream.

Kagome, her blue-black hair scattered across her pillow, protested a little as he got up and removed his warmth. She tried to snuggle deeper into her blanket but then gave up and sat up. "Well, I guess it's morning," she grumbled.

Later, after even a protesting Sango had to give in and wake up thanks to Miroku's persistence, InuYasha had come back with fish, and the four friends gathered to sit around the campfire, early morning light filtering through the trees. 

"How many mornings have we done this, I wonder?" asked Sango. She yawned then sipped her tea. 

"It's been a lot," said Kagome. There was a touch of nostalgia in her voice as she finished preparing their breakfast. Fish and rice balls. She suddenly hungered for the taste of instant ramen, but pushed that thought aside. "At least this morning we didn't have InuYasha telling us puny humans to hurry up and get moving."

"Feh!" he replied, smiling. "That's because I got tired of you crying 'Just five more minutes!' every time I woke you up. And I was hungry."

She handed him some fish and rice and smiled back. 

"Well," Miroku said, accepting his own breakfast. "How far is it to Sesshoumaru's castle? How long do you think you'll be?" 

"About a day and a half from here," InuYasha replied. "But I have no idea how long it'll take. My bastard brother may just blow it off, and we'll come right back home. Or not. At least five days. Maybe more."

Miroku and Sango exchanged glances. She looked at him wistfully but uncertain. He nodded to her.

"I'd like to return to the village," Sango said. "Miroku and I could rescue Kaede from Shippou. I know that Kohaku has to be lonely." 

She looked down on the ground, as if embarrassed. Miroku took her hand. 

"That's not a bad idea, " said Kagome. 

"We talked about it last night," Miroku said. "If we leave from here, we're less than two days away."

"Suit yourself," InuYasha said, standing up. "Although I'm sure Kaede can use the break."

The group broke camp, said goodbyes, and moved in opposite directions.

---------------------------------------------- 

Jomei held the fan in his hands as he walked.

It was blue and silver and iron, a gussen, a war fan. The ribs were designed to be a weapon. When he opened the fan, the following verse was written on it in red characters: 

Mistake false for true

And name that which is true false --

Miss the truth of life

If he had not found the fan this morning, he would have considered his meeting with Matsuo a dream. But when he had gotten up at sunrise, he found the indentation where the youkai had been sitting and this fan. The fan – it was a symbol, a warning, an invitation. And yet the whole thing seems so...so...wrong to him. Youkai monks? Youkai chanting sutras? 

"I take refuge in the Buddha," he chanted. "I take refuge in the Dharma. I take refuge in the Sangha." Leaning against his staff, he put away the fan, opened his bamboo canteen and took a drink.

His mind screamed trap. The fan was bait. The meeting was bait. Kukai's Hand was the biggest bait of all. His sensei had longed to find that particular artifact. With that artifact, he had been taught, he could release all those with youki to move on into the next life straight to the Pure Land. Why would any youkai want to help him find this thing? It had to be a trap.

Yet the road stretched up ahead of him, heading west, winding and traveling through rock and hill and forest. So far it had no feel of evil aura about it. He would continue this way, at least for the time being. 

"I take refuge in the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life!" he said, then began going down the road.

-------------------------------------------------------

It was late afternoon when they came across the old hut. InuYasha, carrying Kagome on his back, paused in front of it.. It was a small stone structure with a sound looking roof. On a small rise, it was free of nearby trees and had a clear view in three directions. The fourth faced a rocky area in the hill behind it.

"Let's stop here," said InuYasha. "I've stopped here before. Hut was in pretty good shape last time."

"Some reason you want to stop this early?" Kagome asked as she got off his back. "Ah, it feels so good to stretch."

She took a few steps, straight-legged, stretching her knees. He rotated his shoulders and looked up at the sky.

"Going to rain tonight. I can smell it. You want a roof over your head when it hits?" he said. "We could have tried for a village, but..." InuYasha let his words trail off. 

Kagome, standing beside him, reached up putting two fingers to his lips. "I don't know when I'll want to go back to a village I don't know," she said.

He gave her a wry, sad smile. Turning, he opened the door to the small building and looked in. Inside, it was fairly clean, with only some leafy debris that had blown in since the last time it was used. 

"Don't think any animals have been using it as a den lately," he said, sniffing the air. "Doesn't smell like fresh human or youkai traces either." He placed her bag inside the hut, then turned around and sighed. "I need to go hunting. Keep your bow near." 

"I will," she replied.

After watching his red-draped shape slip off into the woods beyond the clearing, she swept out the hut with a branch, and gathered wood to make a fire. The afternoon light was wonderfully sweet and non-threatening, with only a few clouds in the sky, but InuYasha was rarely wrong about weather changes. By the time he returned with a pair of rabbits in hand, she had a fire started in the fire pit. Serious clouds were beginning to build up. 

They finished the last few chores of the evening fairly quietly, preparing the hut for the night, fetching water, laying out bedding, cooking dinner. But then, there wasn't anything left to do but sit and wait.

"How long has it been since we've gotten to be alone like this, InuYasha? In a room, under a roof, just you and me?" Kagome asked, looking at the fire as the rabbits roasted over the fire.

"Just me and you, without even the brat?" he said, looking thoughtfully. "Been awhile." He poked the fire with a stick, watched the sparks rise up.

She looked down, smiling. and reached out and touched his hand.

He moved closer, draped an arm around her shoulder. There was a clap of thunder nearby, quite loud. Kagome jumped at the surprising sound. 

"I see the storm has come." she said, snuggling in tighter as she listened to the rain fall, in loud heavy drops.

"Told you, " he said. He rested his chin on her head.

"This feels so good, but I'm hungry," said Kagome. "You think the rabbit's done?"

"Hmmm...probably," he said, not moving except to gently run a single claw along her thigh in lazy circles. Suddenly, he bolted upright, pushed her away as he grabbed Tessaiga. "Wait here."

"What is it?" she said, reaching for her bow.

"Youkai. And very near."

He pulled back the door to run out when suddenly, a slender redheaded man, rain-drenched and bleeding, standing on elegant fox feet tumbled forward into the room.

"Kitsune!" said Kagome.

"Miko!" yelped the fox.

"Damn it," InuYasha whispered. Kagome shot him a glance.

The kitsune stood up, looked at them both, then passed out.


	6. Meetings

Disclosure: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 6 Meetings

--------------------------------------------------------

Overcome anger with freedom from anger. 

Overcome evil with good. 

Overcome meanness with generosity, 

and overcome a liar with truthfulness. 

--Dhammapada

-------------------------------------------------------

Kagome ran to the side of the unconscious Kitsune. He looked like a young man of about 25, with rain wet and straggly hair. His face, though, was too red. She felt his head. He was burning with fever. 

"Help me, InuYasha!" she said as she worked to remove his bloodstained haori and kosode looking for injuries. He lifted the fox youkai up while she pulled off his clothes. The injured man had a long serious gash still slightly bleeding on his left side and a number of smaller cuts and abrasions.

"He's been attacked with weapons from the looks of things, not claws or teeth, as far as I can tell," Kagome said. "Human or youkai?"

"Can't tell for sure, he got so wet. But I smell poison," InuYasha said. "Smells like some of the shit that Sango uses sometimes." He dug into her bag, handed her the first aid kit she still carried. 

"That might explain the fever," said Kagome. She poured clean water into a bowl. "Hand me a towel out of there, too." InuYasha passed the towel over, watched her wash and dress the Kitsune's wounds and bind them with bandages, occasionally moving the youkai as needed.

"He's youkai. He ought to be better by morning," InuYasha said. There was an unspoken "I don't like wasting my time this way" in his tone of voice. 

"Ought to be. Sometimes with poisoning, though, even youkai slow down," she replied. Handing the hanyou a blanket, she said, "Get him out of the rest of his wet things and wrap him in this. I'll make him something to help with the fever." She turned her back while InuYasha did as she asked, but his impatience and unhappiness was growing.

There was a bright flash of lightning and a sizzle-pop-bang of a nearby lightning strike. They both jumped at the suddenness of it. 

"Okay, Inari-sama, we're taking care of him," he said to the kami who loved foxes, as he wrapped the Kitsune in the blanket, and laid him down on the bedroll.

Kagome, making herbal tea, looked up at InuYasha and smiled. 

--------------------------------------------------------

His soft chanting was hard to hear above the rainfall:

Matsuo the monk huddled around another camp fire in a less comfortable location than the one InuYasha and Kagome found, waiting for the storm to be over. He sat in a small rock shelter that kept most of the rain and a lot of the wind off of his body, but it made caring for his fire tricky. He could not really rest well because of it. So he recited and meditated - recited more than meditated so he wouldn't fall asleep.

"Happy indeed we live who are free from hatred among those who still hate. 

In the midst of hate-filled men, we live free from hatred."

For the last few days he had been trailing the priest Jomei, carefully, always trying to stay out of his sensing range, but when the weather broke, Matsuo had to let his quarry be and seek shelter. He had hoped to connect with Hakuzo the Kitsune before the weather broke, but it didn't happen. Hakuzo was a kind, quiet fellow, who made the best fish stew, and Matsuo had been looking forward to a good night's sleep at his den. But the storm and the dark had come too early for him to reach it. He pulled his cloak about his shoulders a bit tighter.

"Happy indeed we live who are free from worry among those who are still worried. 

In the midst of worried men, we live free from worry."

The rain, with occasional cracks of lightning, continued to pour down with brief breaks most of the night.

"There is no fire like desire. 

There is no weakness like anger. 

There is no suffering like the khandhas. 

There is no happiness greater than peace"

About sunrise, even though the rain had not fully stopped, he wrapped his straw rain cape around his shoulder, placed his hat over his head, and set out. As he walked, the weather improved considerably. By the time he had reached the home of the Kitsune, the rain had fully stopped. 

The road to the Kitsune's den ran beneath a large oak tree, then down towards the hillside the den was in. Something - the scent, the quiet - wasn't right. The entrance way was open. Matsuo could smell blood. And even though it had rained all night, he could smell the scent of human mixed into his friend's smell. The smell of Jomei.

He walked into the entrance way. His nose and his senses told him no one was here. Going inside further, he could see there were signs of disruption. Hakuzo's library had been ransacked. Furniture was overturned, and the fire pit had grown cold. Near the desk where his friend liked to read and ponder, there was the beginning of a blood trail. Not a lot, but enough to follow.

Sighing deeply, Matsuo decided to follow the trail of his friend rather than Jomei's. There were other guards along the way. But there was only one Hakuzo. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

"You should lay down, Kagome," InuYasha said, as he knelt in front of her, his amber eyes lit with concern.

Kagome started awake, having dozed off sitting up next to the fox youkai. She pushed a strand of blue-black hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"I fell asleep, didn't I?" she said, sitting up and stretching. "How is he?"

"Asleep, I think. Not just passed out, but really asleep. That's what he sounds and smells like." InuYasha turned and stirred the fire. "You want some tea?" he asked, putting on the kettle.

She nodded yes. "I bet his fever's broke." She reached over to touch the Kitsune's forehead. It was much cooler to the touch.

Suddenly, the fox's hand grabbed her wrist. His hazel eyes popped open, and he growled. "Out to finish what the damned priest couldn't do, Miko?" he said

A large clawed hand grabbed his. "No, but I might, if you keep this up," InuYasha said.

The fox stared for a moment and then let go, InuYasha pulled Kagome behind him. "A dog. Anybody ever tell you foxes and dogs don't get along?" he said. "Inu hanyou?"

"Keh," InuYasha replied. 

"Traveling with a miko?" the Kitsune sat up, shook his head, and then cradled it in both his hands. "Damn, my head is pounding."

Kagome took a cup she had ready, handed it to him. "Drink this. It'll help with the pain."

The youkai took it, sniffed it, and made a face. "Willow bark, eh?" He tossed it back, shuddering from the bitterness. "A miko and an Inu hanyou. I think I might have heard about you...you must be InuYasha. Sesshoumaru-sama's brother."

"Half-brother," he growled. "And who are you?"

The door pulled open. A man dressed in the black robes of a Zen monk, but with silver eyebrows and intense amber-eyes, looked in. 

"Hakuzo!" he said.

"Why hello, Matsuo!" said the fox youkai. "What brings you to this part of the world?"

--------------------------------

It had not rained near the castle. There was a small clearing nearby where Sesshoumaru would retreat to from time to time, surrounded by pines and a rocky outcropping. Maples grew low to hide the site from casual view, and from somewhere nearby was the sound, but not sight, of a small waterfall. This place felt isolated and peaceful. 

He sat there in a patch of sunlight in deep meditation. His perfect silver hair caught the light and stirred, not from any real breeze, but in the stirring of youki that swirled around him tightly, causing a certain tinting over his hair and white silks, a purplish tinge if one could see auras.

Quietly, calmly, Teijo walked near his nephew. The older Inu youkai was dressed simply, in soft gray hakama and kosode. His long silver hair fell down his back in a single braid. He carried two wooden practice swords.

"My sensei always told me that there were four things that all warriors had to overcome and master their reactions to," he said. "Fear. Reacting on suspicion instead of knowledge. Being deluded instead of acting on the truth. Getting startled and reacting instead of acting."

"This Sesshoumaru knows of these things," said the Daiyoukai. "Did you leave your sanctuary in the mountains just to lurk around the castle grounds, dodging the guards and giving out beginner lessons?"

"We enter a time where suspicion, delusion and fear weave an interesting braid," Teijo said, sitting down next to his nephew. "Can we see through the deceits and act accordingly, or will we be startled into reacting? Your brother will be here by this evening, perhaps. He is a key part of that braid."

"My brother is a headstrong baka," Sesshoumaru said. "What plots he gets involved in are his business."

"Your brother is a fulcrum," Teijo answered, standing back up. He tossed one of the wooden swords to Sesshoumaru. "Now show me what you've learned since I taught you to fence."

Sesshoumaru caught the bokken with ease, looked at it for a moment, then stood up. His face retained its impassive, non-emotional look, but a touch of fire touched his golden eyes as he looked as his uncle. He slowly ran through the steps of a kata, his body graceful, fluid, powerful. "No," he said. "I will not spar with you." He dropped the practice sword. "Your agenda is not mine."

Teijo nodded once, as if this behavior answered some unasked question. "The ningen world readies to thrust itself upon us, That is not of my doing, but a reality thrust upon us, You may not be able to say no to it as easily as to me."

He picked up the dropped sword. "I will see you when your brother arrives," he said, then left.


	7. Conflict and Recovery

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 7: Conflict and Recovery

--------------------------------------------------------

Sentient beings are primarily all Buddhas:

It is like ice and water,

Apart from water no ice can exist;

Outside sentient beings, where do we find the Buddhas?

Not knowing how near the Truth is,

People seek it far away -- what a pity!

They are like him who, in the midst of water,

Cries in thirst so imploringly.

--Haikun

-------------------------------------------------------

"Houshi-sama, would you come in?" Kagome said to the black robed priest standing in the doorway. Obviously youkai with his claws and his pointed ears, nevertheless, he bore the shaved head and staff of his calling. His youki was calm and non-threating. Amber eyes looked at his friend with concern, surprise at the two who were with him.

The small hut was beginning to feel crowded. InuYasha reacted to the pressure of being with two strange youkai, unknown and not pack, putting himself between Kagome and the fox and the doorway, his amber eyes flickering with red. Unhappy that the monk had blocked the door, his hand automatically went to the hilt of Tessaiga.

"Houshi? Smells Inu youki to me," he growled he ears on his head flattened back, showing his discomfort. "Never heard of a Youkai houshi before."

"I am both, actually," Matsuo said. He came in, getting out of the doorway, his back to the wall, sitting under the kitsune's drying clothes. Feeling InuYasha's stress, he made himself as small as possible, looking down at his hands instead of at the hanyou, but kept his staff in his lap. "It's a long story, but true."

"Keh," Inuyasha said. "And you, Kitsune -- why would this one come looking for you? How did you get hurt like that? And how did you end up on my doorstep?"

Hakuzo, sitting up, suddenly realized his state of undress and the bandages across his chest. "I...I..." he said, pulling the blanket more fully over himself.

"InuYasha," Kagome said, resting her hand on his shoulder. They exchanged a glance, a touch of auras. She gave him a small, reassuring smile. His youki calmed some at the touch. It was all over rather quickly, and easily missed, but Matsuo noticed it. He lifted an eyebrow, realizing something of what Kagome was.

"Please excuse him, Houshi-sama, Hakuzo-san." she said, peaking behind the hanyou's shoulder. "We have been up most of the night, and we are both quite tired.

Matsuo gave a smile. "Please accept my apologies" he said "I began tracking Hakuzo after passing by his house this morning, and didn't even consider anything more than finding him."

Hazuko sat up straighter, grimacing as he moved. "You always were a one-track mind, kit." he said.

"Thus my mother always told me." said the youkai monk. He sighed.

Kagome moved around InuYasha, sat next to the fox, touching his forehead to check for fever. He still felt cool to the touch. "How do you feel, Hakuzo-san?"

"Tired. Achy. Thirsty."

His green eyes met her blue. "I have an adopted Kitsune son," Kagome said, "You remind me of him, all grown up. No more fever. That's a good sign. I suspect you are throwing off the poison in your wounds." She reached over, poured some water into a cup. "Drink this now. We'll have soup and rice in a little bit."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rin stood in a meadow. It was dappled with many yellow and pink flowers, but at this moment, though, she was not looking for flowers. Instead of her usual kimono, she wore dark blue hakama and haori. She carried a staff in her hand, and began the slow fluid motions of a kata.

Ready, step forward, thrust. Step back, lift the rear of the staff to block. Step back, thrust. step, block. Turn, shomen-uchi. She moved through her motions gracefully, but with a serious look on her face. Because she was small, she looked very much like a doll dancing in the meadow.

A small green youkai watched her as she went through her paces. He was sitting down on a large flat rock, holding a staff with two heads at the top, a staff much too large for his body.

"O Jaken-sama!" she said, talking to the small youkai after pausing in her routine. "I wish Kohaku was here. I bet he'd be proud how well I do this kata he taught me."

Although he too secretly missed the boy, Jaken grumbled, "One ningen less is a good thing! I don't know why Sesshoumaru-sama hasn't sent you to live with his brother's pack yet. Then maybe I would get to do the work I ought to!"

"O Jaken, you're so little." she said, teasing him. "Sesshoumaru-sama is too busy with important meetings to be with us today. But maybe he'll let us go and visit with Kohaku later. I miss him since he went to live with his sister."

"Hmph," said the little green youkai.

She sighed, thinking about her friend, and began her routine again.

Neither she nor Jaken noticed how they were being watched from the nearby woods. Two warrior monks, one armed with katana, the other with naginata watched the girl. They both wore dark armour over their robes and tan cowls and hakama.

"What type of youkai is that?" the katana bearer asked. " I wonder if our knock out pills would work on him."

"Don't think so. Those work best on canine types. He looks like a toad."

The watchers were being watched themselves. Teijo dropped silently out of a tree behind the two sohei.

"'He is not righteous who judges a situation impulsively'," he quoted."'But the righteous one is one who distinguishes between right and wrong.' May I ask what you are doing? Are you judging impulsively or are you distinguishing?"

They turned to face the man behind them, taking ready stances as they saw him. Silver haired, amber-eyed, and dressed in dark gray, the figure behind them had a truly non-human presence. In his hands was a metal staff.

"Youkai monster, what are you doing quoting the Buddha?" said the one with the naginata..

"Following the Eightfold Path." he replied. "And you, why are you watching the child?"

"Hah!" said the other monk. "We will liberate any youkai we find, and help those tainted by youkai contact." He drew his sword.

Teijo took a ready posture with his staff.

"'It is the very mind itself that leads the mind astray,' it is said. I think you may have judged impulsively."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It was yesterday afternoon," Hakuzo said, sipping his soup.

Everyone had chosen to leave the confines of the hut to eat their lunch in the sunshine where there was enough room to sit and relax. Hazuko sat with his back to the hut wall, looking tired, but able.

"A wandering monk came by, and asked to talk with me. That's not uncommon, by the way. I have a bit of a reputation, it seems as a person who likes to talk a lot and who has a good library."

"He does have an excellent library. Not just Buddhist texts, either. You would have to go a good ways away to find another one as nice, and youkai aren't usually welcome in such places," Matsuo said. 'Unfortunately, your attacker seems to have really made a mess of your collection."

Hakuzo sighed. "Another reason to hurry home. Anyway, I gave him some tea, and we had a talk about the Diamond Sutra. We were talking about this passage:

"All living creatures of whatever type,

born from eggs,

born from wombs,

formed from moisture,

or by transformation

whether with form or without form,

whether thinking or exempt from thought

-- all these are led by me to obtain Nirvana.

"It was a pleasant enough discussion, as we discussed what types of persons and beings can move towards Nirvana during their lifetime. He seemed to have some unusual ideas about ego and reincarnation. When I pointed that out, he seemed rather irritated with me. He threw something on the floor, and my head began to reel...some sort of drug that released in a cloud. I couldn't see straight. I couldn't think. I stood up, felt a horrid pain in my side...saw blood on my fingers. My sense of preservation wasn't totally gone. I struck out and hit someone, I think, then ran out of the house, right into the rain. Somehow I ended up here."

InuYasha sat close to Kagome, his silver hair glinting in the midday light. His soup bowl empty, he rested one red clad arm around her shoulder, in a typical Inu youkai marking of what belonged to him, but relaxed, and not nearly as tense as earlier. "Good thing for you," he said to the Kitsune. "You wouldn't be doing nearly as well today if you'd stayed out in the storm last night."

"You did seem rather out of it," Kagome said to Hakuzo. She held InuYasha's other hand, a gesture she could tell he found soothing.. "You basically screamed 'Miko!' and passed out when you got here. We took care of you all night, and here you are."

The kitsune bowed towards Kagome. "Thank you very much, miko."

"No, please don't call me miko. I might have spiritual powers, but I am not really a miko. Call me Kagome." she said.

"Then thank you, Kagome-san."

"You are welcome, Hakuzo-san." Kagome stood up, collected the lunch dishes, and put them in a pan to wash.

"Who was this monk, Hakuzo?" Matsuo asked.

"He said his name was Jomei."

InuYasha and Kagome exchanged glances.


	8. Gifts

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 8: Gifts

--------------------------------------------------------------

This Great Bodhisattva Vow --

It shall be all-penetrating,

A shining light of wisdom and compassion,

An inconceivable light

Illuminating our inner darkness,

Enabling us to see our ignorance,

Our hatred,

Our unquenchable desires,

Our own deep, awesome true reality.

---from the Juseige (slightly modified)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

As Jomei pushed an overhanging branch out of the way, he realized wasn't exactly sure how he got to where he was.

Where he was was lost in the forest. He stepped carefully down the trail he was following, filled with low growing branches and rough brush near to ground. The path itself was quite narrow. There was something odd about it as it meandered through the trees and the occasional meadow. He thought, at first, it was a human trail, but something tingled as he walked it. Perhaps a deer path? There was a tiny touch of something supernatural. It wasn't jyaki, he was sure. It was far too pure, light.

Sometime during the night, he got totally lost in the storm and wandered until he found a shallow cave where he passed out, drenched, feverish, confused. Each thunderclap seemed to have echoed in his head. In the morning, when he finally stepped out of his shelter, he didn't recognize anything.

His face throbbed from where he was scratched by the Kitsune the night before. He felt lightheaded. Still, he chanted morning prayers as he walked, but his words seemed to be eaten up by the woods around him, muffling in the still air.

"A Tathagata's eye of wisdom

Penetrates even man's self-centeredness,

Penetrates conditioned and unconditioned equally,

Piercing the depths of inner darkness."

"Inner darkness," he mused. "What about darkness during the light of day?"

He thought for sure by now he would have run across some sign of humans - a hut, a field, a village. But as the day passed noon, he had found no sign. The forest he wandered in seemed to go on forever. Forested mountain guarded either side of his path. He had forded two shallow, swift streams. Beyond that, all he saw was wild.

Suddenly, a white shape darted in front of him, a quick moving animal. "A fox?" he wondered. The back of his mind screamed, 'Watch out!' but the rest of him ignored it. The fox's white fur seemed to glow. As he looked at it running away from him, he noticed a wisp of smoke, the type that curls out of a hut signalling home and hearth, off in the same direction. With a shrug, he followed the path the beast pointed out.

------------------------------------

Kagome packed the last of the cooking things away in her pack as the four of them contemplated the kitsune's story. The air was very quiet, and she noticed the sound as the wind picked up and swayed through the pine trees nearby.

"You've heard of Jomei?" asked Hakuzo, raising one ginger-red eyebrow.

"We had a run-in with some of his disciples last week." said Kagome.

Hakuzo nodded briefly. "I had heard there was some new sect moving into the eastern reaches of Lord Sesshoumaru's holdings." He looked at InuYasha and Kagome.

InuYasha moved next to Kagome as she finished packing and wrapped a protective arm around her. "They caught us by surprise, and what they wanted to do deserves retribution. They were waiting for Jomei, but we got away first. This type of muck doesn't need to be spread here," InuYasha said. His eyes flashed red. "If I catch his scent, I will track him down and kill him."

"So that's why you're here. You came to see Lord Sesshoumaru about this." said Hakuzo. "I know that you seldom come here."

InuYasha nodded. "My brother and I have...our differences. If he needs, I come, but mostly I let him go his way, and he does the same for me. I have my forest and village. But some things he needs to deal with. He is the Daiyoukai."

"I would agree with that." Hakuzo said, standing up. "I'm getting anxious to go home and see what's happened to my library. Injuries are injuries, but rare books are sometimes a tragic loss. And my students might come looking, too. But I do thank you greatly for your care last night, friends."

Matsuo had been very quiet during this exchange, thinking about how he had been sent, and wondering what his master had in mind next for this renegade priest. Finally, he stood as well.

"Always the scholar, eh?" said Matsuo

"That is my calling. Inari knows why," he said.

"I will accompany you back home, " Matsuo said to his friend.

"I would appreciate that." the kitsune said. He looked at his friend thoughtfully, realizing at last there was something deeper going on. He wondered, idly, if Matsuo would tell him anything.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I bring you a gift, Nephew," Teijo said.

Sesshoumaru looked out at the ocean from a high place near the castle. The wind, and his youki pulled at his long silvery hair and his white silken clothing. A strong smell of sea and salt and change touched the air. His face remained impassive.

There was a muffled sound as the bodies of the two ningen monks hit the ground behind the youkai. They were bloody, bound and gagged, but still breathing, still wearing their armour, but carefully unarmed.

"And why would I want a pair of humans?' Sesshoumaru asked.

"These are special. They are sohei, Buddhist monks who belong to a sect that believes all youkais should be liberated through death so they can be reborn as humans. They believe humans who are connected to youkais should perform hard service in retribution and penance so they too may be reborn in time to find the way to Nirvana.

"I found them in the woods stalking your own ningen," Teijo said. "They were discussing how to immobilize Jaken to kidnap Rin. I took them out while they were watching. I do not believe the girl noticed."

Sesshoumaru's face grew hard, and he swallowed, the only outward sign of his controll being disturbed.

"Your brother should be here before nightfall. He will tell you a story about how he had a run-in with the same group. This IS one of the ways the ningin will be encroaching on you and yours. Nor is it the only way. Times are changing."

Sesshoumaru turned, looked at the two monks. Suddenly, he kicked one hard.

"Morio," he said.

A young armoured Youkai stepped forward. "Have these two taken to the dungeon. We will want to know what they know."

"You will need to talk to me before it's over, Sesshoumaru."

"When the time comes, perhaps," he said, then walked off.

Teijo smiled wryly. "Things, it seems, are accelerating," he said to no one in particular.


	9. Evening Air

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 9: Evening Air

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Who shall conquer this world

And the world of death with all its gods?

Who shall discover

The shining way of dharma?

Snap the flower arrows of desire

And then, unseen,

Escape the king of death.

--The Dhammapada

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He sat in his garden. It was early evening, and the jasmine was blooming, white star shapes cascading against the rocks and walls where it was planted, releasing its sweetness.

A calming oasis was this enclosed garden within the castle grounds. There were various plantings, trees, shrubs, and a pool. Lotus floated and and koi swam in its waters. Several interesting boulders had been placed where thy lead the eye up and towards ithe beyond. It was a place one might find quiet, or meditate, or otherwise renew oneself.

This evening, he would put it to a different use.

Anger burned inside of him. "They dared try to take what is MINE!" he whispered. Even through his well-schooled control, the anger he held in affected his youki. Those who could gave him a wide berth, not wishing to feel his aura contact theirs. He wanted to ease that anger. He wanted to see the eyes, the soul of a person who would attack, to taste their smell, feel their heartbeat.

Only one of the two had made it through interrogation. They brought the surviving monk to him in the garden, removed his bonds. He had been beaten. He smelled of sweat and blood and pain, yet also of peaceful resignation. One eye was quite swollen. He held his left arm.

Yet he was a trained warrior, even if ningen, and the monk had withdrawn into some deep internal place, holding himself at the ready, waiting.

"Ningen," Sesshoumaru said, calm, controlled. "Why are you here?"

The man looked him squarely in the eyes, ignoring the pressure of his youki, the feral look in Sesshoumaru's eyes that promised darkness. The interrogators have extracted all of this information. Yet Sesshoumaru needed to see the man's reactions, to understand, perhaps, or witness what sort of truths the truths ningen held in his heart.

"I am the servant of Amida," the monk said, tiredly, but patiently.

"No," Sesshoumaru said, very quietly. "Tell me WHY you are here in the Western lands. Why you came into my holdings without permission."

"To preach the Dharma. To liberate youkai."

"Who sent you into my lands?"

"My sensei Jomei."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at the audacity of the answer . The serenity behind the man's responses, here, when tasting the threat of death impressed the youkai. "And what were you doing when Teijo captured you?"

"We had found a girl who was talking with a youkai. We were going to free her from her youkai contamination." The monk looked defiantly at the Daiyoukai. "If we had known who she belonged to at that time, we might have acted swifter."

Red swirled in Sesshoumaru's eyes. Whatever curiosity he had about the ningen's motivations and training paled. THIS was the reason he was standing in the garden, looking at this creature. He stood, drew himself into his full height, allowed his youki to focus in on the monk. The man shuddered.

Sesshoumaru gave a feral grin, the type of grin a dog gives before the attack. "I give you a choice." he said thickly. " Stand here and enter the Pure Land, or try to run. I would enjoy the chase. I have your scent. You will not be able to escape."

The monk closed his eyes, swallowed. "I will not run. Namu Amida Butsu. Namu Amida Butsu. I take refuge in Amida --" he said.

The youkai, his questions answered, his judgment rendered, tore out the monk's throat.

--------------------------------------------------

"We'll get there in the morning," InuYasha said. "You are too tired. Better not face my brother yawning in his face."

Kagome was suprised when they stopped. It was late afternoon. They had only travelled maybe three hours after parting ways with the kitsune. But she didn't want to fight him on this one. She was tired.

InuYasha found a good campsite far enough away from the road for privacy and close enough to water, sheltered with trees.

"I think I've camped here before, " he said.

The fire ring was proof of it having been used from time to time, but from the look and smell of things, he knew no one had used it recently. InuYasha caught some fish Quietly, they set up camp, first gathering wood and making a fire, then preparing and eating dinner.

The afternoon gave way to evening, an evening that was calming, peaceful and starlit. Surrounded by this quiet moment, InuYasha let his thoughts wander to the next day, and what he would tell his brother, and wondered what his brother would want to do.

Sighing, he looked over at Kagome, at her eyes in the firelight, something he much preferred to think about. Her eyes seemed darker in the firelight than was normal, caught in the shadows and flickering light. He knew they were blue-grey, stormy colored, yet at the same time so often serene and kind. Tonight her eyes showed that she was tired, but still when her eyes touched his, it created an aching deep in his soul. How could anybody not see how she was good, pure, amazing, and want her to do what those monks were talking about?

"What ya thinking?" she asked, as she put away the last of the dinner dishes. The fire touched her blue black hair with highlights, wrapped the lines of her face, her neck, her body in a dance of shadow and warm light.

"About you." he said, his voice soft and husky.

She looked up, met his amber eyes once again, smiled warmly. There were times like now, his white hair, touched with honey highlights from the firelight, his ears, his eyes, the way he carried himself, touched her heart in amazing ways. So otherworldly, so strong, so vunerable so beautiful. She had loved his beauty since the day she first saw him pinned to the Goshinboku. Moving next to him, Kagome rested her head against his shoulder. "And what were you thinking about me?" she asked.

"Oh, just what a stubborn, beautiful, baka, special wench you are," he said, wrapping an arm around her, resting his cheek against her head. "Putting up with me, with this life, giving up so much that you could have had."

A brief wistful look touched her eyes, as she thought of her loved ones five hundred years away, totally unreachable. But it only stayed there a moment. "I'll always be with you," she said, repeating a promise she made once in what seemed like a different life, so much had happened since, but felt just as true as when she first said it. "With you is where I want to be."

"So you put up with youkai and bad monks and greedy villagers who want to hurt you for being with me."He looked deeply into her eyes once again, ran a finger lightly across her lips, coming to rest his hand along her cheek. "I told you you were a baka."

"I love you. I can't be anywhere else." she replied.

He bent over her, brushed his lips lightly against hers with each word. "Wife. Mate. Beloved. Mine." he said.

"Yours, always," she replied, returning his kiss hungrily.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matsuo sat under the stars, next to a small fire, seeming in deep meditation, although his youki was disturbed, and restlessly swirled around him. If he were not shaven headed, his hair would have been swirling in its current.

Pine trees waved in the true wind, darker shadows in the night echoing his agitation. Intentionally, he breathed deep, letting the mindfulness he was searching for, follow the path of each breath, pulling thruogh his nose, into his lungs, out again. And yet, his mind was a bee, unable to settle, really. His mind went out and could trace the eddies of power, jyaki and spiritual, human, youki and something he didn't recognize.

"Your ki is a stormy ocean tonight, Matsuo."

Matsuo opened his eyes and looked into the cool amber eyes of Teijo.

"There is a wind blowing on it that is not mine," he replied.

"This is true." Teijo replied.

Teijo reached into his haori and pulled out a small bag. Unfastening it, he pulled out a small gem that glowed with an intense red.

He thought about it the first time he saw it.

_"Behold Kukai's hand. In it rests the destiny of youkai," said the kami._

_Teijo watched it, feeling the power contained in it as it rolled around in the center of his hand.._

_"That is what it is," said Benzaiten, Kami of good fortune, lover of kitsunes and snakes, one face of Inari. She glowed with pale, otherwordly light, swirled with an aura neither human or youki.. "This guards the heart and soul of what the youkai, in all their forms are."_

_"Why?" he asked._

_"The time is coming when youkai survival will rest on the fate of this stone. It is a seal binding that which without meaning to, will strip away all that is magic, holy, supernatural, allowing only that which can be measured and explained in the light of day. When magic is no more, youkai will die._

_Benzaiten's eyes pierced him. He felt naked in her eyes._

_"Why did you ask me, and not a kitsune to guard it? Or even a snake?"_

_"I need Inu loyalty and honor. Can you do this? Will you do this? The price will be high. The need of the stone and all youkai must come before family, friend, heart."_

_He closed his eyes, felt his balance, sensed the winds of destiny swirling._

_"I will do it."_

Many things had happened since then. Always, he kept to the path, the road the stone prescribed. He had to turn his back on his brother's need and watch him die, unable to act. He to reject his sister-in-law's pleas for aid, and let her son grow up a wild thing. Always, everything fell away from the need to protect the stone, to guard the way, to insure the future.

Matsuo looked at the gem in his hand.

"This," said Teijo, "Is my curse. Yet its need will be our salvation. It is calling all the players together."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We must be getting near to your brother's castle," said Kagome. She signaled to InuYasha to let her down from his back.

"Thanks. My legs needed that, " she said stretching.

"It's not far, "InuYasha said. Once we get around that next rise and past the bend in the road, you'll be able to see the castle."

"I can feel lots of youki," she said.

"Not surprising. Lots of high youkai here. You know what my brother's youki feels like. He's probably the strongest, but he's not the only one around here with strong youki."

They followed the road as it climbed and circled round a dark outcropping of rock. Amid the weeds and grasses growing in its cracks, Kagome noticed ward signs. She could feel the power from them, something, she suspected, to chase away the unwary human.

"Look, Kagome. There is the keep of the Inu no Taishou, the Daiyoukai of the West."

The castle rose on a rise higher than the road they were on, like a small mountain. It had massive white walls and dark sloping roofs. Guard towers rose away from the main building, projecting the image of control, strength, power. Kagome was highly impressed.

"All that time we were looking for the shards," she said, "I had no idea that this was his base. He was travelling so often that I thought he was just a nomad."

"Don't know if he stayed here any more than we stayed at Kaede's, but this was his home. This place has bad memories for me. He can have it." said InuYasha.

They began to walk around the bend, when suddenly, InuYasha pulled Kagome behind him, just in case. A lone figure moved into the center of the road. White on white. His amber eyes gave very little information out; his face marked with crescent moon and crest stripes was held passionless.

"Little Brother. Miko." he said with a slight nod of his head. "You will tell this Sesshoumaru everything you know about a ningen priest named Jomei."

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	10. Fox Tales

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters of Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 10: Fox Tales

------------------------------------------

It is too clear, and so it is hard to see.

A dunce once searched for a fire with a lighted lantern.

Had he known what fire was,

He could have cooked his rice much sooner.

--Mumon

--------------------------------------------

Hakuzo felt the warm sun on his face. He sat outside of his ransacked house breathing the sweet clean air untinged by blood and fear and strangers, and let his mind rebalance in the sunlight. After a time, though, the faint touch of another's youki touched his. He acknowledged it, did not break his concentration.

Matsuo came and sat down beside him.

The kitsune sighed, opened his eyes. "Once," he said, "A priest was asked by a farmer to recite some sutras for his dead wife. The farmer asked the priest if his wife had gained merit for the recitation. The priest replied, 'Not only your wife, but all sentient beings gain when the sutras are recited.'

"The farmer thought a moment. 'Perhaps other folks in the afterworld would take advantage of my wife, taking her share of merit. If you could, could you say them just for her? Just to be safe?' The priest, sighing, explained how it was a Buddist's desire to offer blessings and wish merit on every living being.

"The farmer thought about this a bit, and said. "What a noble teaching! But I have such a baka neighbor who is always trying to take advantage of me -- could we leave him out of all those sentient beings?'

"Ah, the temptations of attachment - to wish to exclude those who have wished us ill and offered us hurt."

"Have you gone through your library yet?" Matsuo asked.

"Not yet," he replied.

"Sesshoumaru's on his way, I think." Matsuo said, looking into the distance.

"Sesshoumaru?" the kitsune asked. "Why?"

"To see what Jomei did to your house, I believe. I ran into Master Teijo last night. He told me that a couple of Jomei's sohei were caught stalking that human girl he cares for."

"That is interesting." He stood up. "Then let's go make some tea. The kitchen's not too much of a disaster."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kagome peeked out at Sesshoumaru from behind InuYasha's back.

"Jomei?" she said. "How--"

"Oi, Brother, you're full of supprises today." InuYasha said.

Sesshoumaru looked at them, giving away nothing really from his impassive face. His only concession was a raised eyebrow as he scrutinized them both. "Follow me. We will sit and talk." He lead them to a nearby meadow, where Jaken, Rin and Ah-Un waited.

"Getting ready to travel?" InuYasha asked.

"I am...hunting,' said Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru and InuYasha took seats in the meadow.

"Hello, Kagome-sama. Is Kohaku with you today?" said a soft voice. Rin had quietly came up to the couple, today wearing a fine yellow kimono with a green obi. She had grown a little since they had seen her last, but Kagome suspected she would never be very tall..

"Not this time, Rin-chan. He's with Sango and Miroku."

The girl seemed dissapointed. Kagome remembered that they had spent a lot of time together before the jewel was purified.

"Please tell him I asked about him," Rin said. She took a seat not far from Sesshoumaru.

"Well, if you are hunting Jomei, Brother, you will want to stop at Hakuzo the kitsune's house first. He was there. Jomei attacked Hakuzo."

Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow. "Your arrival is fortunate. This ningen sent others that threatened what was mine. I had not known this ningen was going to make it so easy for me and come so close." He gave a slight, feral smile. "Tell me what you know."

"He's some sort of missionary priest, helping others set up temples. Don't know how he ended up in the Western Lands, but we had a run-in with his people back at village called Kita. They were displeased with Kagome and me travelling together. The fuckers tried to use stink pellets and ofuda on us, but we got away. Found out that they were saving us for when Jomei got there so they could dispose of us." InuYasha tensed at the memory. Kagome took his hand.

"Miroku told us that Jomei was the leader of a sect that believes he's doing the Buddha' s will to liberate souls if he kills a Youkai," Kagome said. "We'd never heard of them them before, although they had contact with the Slayer's village before it was destroyed."

"The new ningen who would be supreme leader does not like the sohei. He has been chasing them away," Sesshoumaru said. "They are...migrating, looking for new sanctuaries. Tell me, Little Brother, how you knew about Hakuzo."

"He found us." said InuYasha. "He was wounded. We helped him."

"You will come with me," Sesshoumaru said, standing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The house they came to turned out to be abandoned. By the level of weeds in the yard around it, it may have stood vacant for two or three years, its owners no doubt the victims of bandits or sickness, or perhaps the endless fighting by humans that went on between warlord and warlord. The house hadn't been burnt, though, so maybe the owners had run off, and met with a different fortune.

Miroku lifted the hanging door. The inside seemed empty of creatures or other occupants at the current time. The others followed.

Sango quickly brushed the dust out. She sent Kohaku and Shippou off to gather firewood.

She watched her brother walk off into the distance. He had gotten some more growth, but he still remained quiet, thoughful, and cutely freckle-faced. Yet he was no longer deeply withdrawn or plagued by nightmares. Sango thought, as she often did, what a miracle it was that Kohaku was still with them, unpoisoned by all the evil Naraku had used him for. "Thank you, Kikyou," she whispered.

"I'm so tired of travelling, " Miroku said, plopping down near the firepit. "Where is Koku?"

"He went down to the stream to get some water. If it's any comfort, he told me that we should reach our destination tomorrow."

'Well, that's something. I mean, we hadn't even made it home, just to Kaede's village."

"Yeah, I know." She began to build a fire in the fire pit.

"My beautiful Sango," he said, just watching her. "Is there something you would like me to do?"

"You could cook." she said, feeding the tiny flame she had started bits of dry wood.

He sighed. "I thought you might say that."

"I am much better throwing Hiraikotsu at youkai than I am at using cooking pots. I do hope you realize that before we are wed." The fire was going well, and she fed it some larger pieces of wood.

"Having eaten your cooking enough, I am under no delusions." He smiled at her.

Blushing prettily, she stood up. "I'm going to find the boys. We need more wood, and they're taking long enough."

She stepped out of the hut and nearly ran into Koku, the reason they were even there. He was an older man with a twinkle in his eye and a likeable way about him. Looking for someone to help his village with some troublesome rat youkai, he had found them them in Kaede's village on their way home. He was trudging up the path with two buckets of water.

"Excuse me, Sango-sama," he said. "Where do you want the water?"

"In the hut. Have you seen Shippou or Kohaku?"

"Just a little behind me, I think."

He entered the house.

"Tell me a story," Shippou said as dinner was finished. The small kitsune looked up at Sango with his bright green eyes. "Kagome always tells me stories." He sighed, missing the woman who was most like a mother to him.

Sango smiled gently at him "Don't ask me. You don't like how I tell stories."

"Don't look at me," said Miroku. "My stories all involved lovely young ladies, and I don't want to get my beautiful Sango upset with me."

She glared at him slightly, saw the mischief in his face, then smiled.

"I'll tell you one," said Koku, smiling.

Shippou bounded over to sit next to him. Koku took a drink of his tea, shifted and sat more comfortably and began:

"A long, long time ago, a kitsune met a tanuki."

"Like me and Hachi?" Shipou said.

Miroku nodded.

"'Hey, Tanuki!' the fox said. 'I know you and I are the best two in all the world for transforming into other people and things. But who of us is better at it?'" Koku continued.

"''Why, that's easy,' said the tanuki. 'It's me, of course!'

"'O yeah?' the fox said. 'Prove it!' So they decided to have a contest.

"The kitsune knew that the tanuki had an interesting habit. Whenever he would see an image of Jizo-sama, the bodhisattva who especially watches over children and travellers, he would get hungry. So the kitsune, running to a place where he knew the tanuki would be passing, went and turned himself into a statue of Jizo. When the tanuki passed by, he saw the image, and said, 'Hmmm...I'm hungry. Time to eat.'

"The tanuki sat down, took out some riceballs. He offered one to Jizo-sama, bowed his head. When he looked up, the riceball was gone. He got confused, wondering if he had even put it there. So he put out another one, bowed his head, and prayed 'Namu Amida Butsu,' and raised his head right away. The riceball was also gone! He put out a third riceball, but this time, lifted his head before the prayer was through.

"What he saw was this: the statue of Jizo-sama was standing there with a half-eaten riceball in its hand. The tanuki yelled "Hey!" and grabbed the arm. Suddenly, the statue turned back into the Kitsune's usual form. The fox smiled up at the tanuki and said, "Now it's your turn."

Shippou snickered.

"The tanuki was unhappy about how the Kitsune tricked him, and so he thought a moment. 'About noon tomorrow, I'm going to change into the lord from the castle and come by this road. Be sure to be here and watch."

"The kitsune was there waiting the next day, waiting to see. Finally the procession reached his hiding place. First, there came the sweepers yelling 'Down! Everybody down!' Next came a long line of samurai, and then finally, the palanquin in which the lord was riding. It was all very impressive and majestic. The fox was amazed at his friend's skill, and ran over to the lord's basket.

"'Tanuki-sama! Tanuki-sama!' he called, "You have beaten me. This is amazing.' But this was not a transformation by the tanuki at all; it was the real thing. One of the samurai carrying a staff came over to the kitsune. The kitsune was beaten indeed, and severely."

"Hey, the tanuki cheated!" said Shippou.

"And the kitsune made a joke out of holy things. Perhaps Jizo was being compassionate, letting the kitsune learn a lesson that would teach him something he needed to learn?" said Miroku.

Koku smiled at him.


	11. Trailing

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of th characters of Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 11: Trailing

------------------------------------------------------

Dig the pond

without waiting for the moon.

When the pond is finished

the moon will come by itself.

--Dogen

When you open your eyes clearly,

when you have mindfulness

and see with certanty,

an inconceivable realm appears

that seems to exist,

that seems not to exist..

--Haikuin

----------------------------------------------------

The garden was a pleasant green oasis that offered him a way to ignore the chaos for a moment. Hakuzo, his green eyes looking friendly, but guarded, sat sipping his tea while the daiyoukai and his brother and Matsuo prowled through his house for whatever clues or scent they could find about the monk who attacked him, a task that as Inu youkai, they were all well suited for. Kagome, Rin, and Jaken, none of which had good noses, had joined him, sitting in the late afternoon sunlight and enjoying the kitsune's garden. He had set up a low table near a stream that ran across the property, emptying into a small pool, adorned with the dappled shade of sakura trees. Near the pool was a shrine to Benzaiten, patroness of water, learning, poetry. A single rose lay in front of the image, an offering from Rin.

"How peaceful this place is," Kagome said, also sipping at her tea. "You are feeling well now, Hakuzo-san?"

He closed his eyes, listening to the wind in the pines, the sound of bamboo windchimes. Dappled light flickered across the pool.

"Yes, very well, Kagome-san. Rin, you will like these," he said, passing a plate of sweets her way.

The girl solemnly accepted the treat with grace, and smiled. "Thank you, Hakuzo-sama. Your garden is very lovely. I have a little garden that Sesshoumaru gave to me, but it's not nearly this nice."

"Do you think so?" he replied. " Then you must ask Sesshoumaru-sama if you can come here at Sakura-blossom time. That's when it's at its best."

She looked happily at the thought. "I will remember that, Hakuzo-sama. Do you mind if I go look around?"

"Not at all. Feel free," the kitsune said.

She ran off. Jaken grabbed a sweet off the plate, got up and followed.

"You cannot wander far, Rin. Sesshoumaru-sama will not want to wait while you look at flowers!" he squawked.

"She is an interesting child." Hakuro said, watching her run. "I think I have a poem for her:

"Summer sunlight calls

like small feet on a green field

chasing butterflies.

"That's Rin," said Kagome She took another sip of her tea, then asked "How do you know Matsuo?"

"Once, long ago, he was my student." he said. "And you - how does a miko become so involved with youkai affairs?"

"It's a long story. Once, on my fifteenth birthday, I went looking for my cat in this well house --"

---------------------------------------------------------

Jomei walked into a meadow, surrounded by forest. Once again, he had wandered down a clear trail, following what he was hoping to be a path to a human settlement, but once again, the clue had proved to be false. At the north end of the meadow, there was a rockfaced hillside, and a spring. Overhead, he saw a bird - an eagle, perhaps, soaring overhead.

He knew he had stumbled into some type of enchantment or trap, and he suspected he was crossing and recrossing the same paths. He had tried various things - reading sutras, placing ofudas, meditating, but even in spite of his training, nothing worked. This added to his confusion, for he was not without spiritual powers, and spiritual powers were supposed to break through kitsune illusion. No nogitsune, wild kitsune should have been able to do this to him.

Yet three times, a white fox had appeared to lead him. The first time, he had found himself in a clearing, where there was a small fire. It was the smoke frorm the fire that the fox had nudged him to see. It was a good clearing similar to the meadow he found himself in now, but he walked away from it, feeling uneasy about it.

Yet after an hour or so, found himself back in the same clearing. He had been walking in circles. It was getting dark. He settled down by the fire, ate, went to sleep.

That's when he had the dream.

_He had been a child again, sitting in his mother's house._

_Suddenly, he heard his sister's voice yelling for help. He and his mother ran outside, and saw the village elders standing before his sister. Her clothes had been ripped and torn. She had been thrown to the ground, and was crying with great heavy sobs._

_"We found her with this youkai!" a young man yelled. "She was pleasuring him in the forest!"_

_"Hoshiko!" he yelled, struggling in his mother's arms. She pulled him tight to her, trying to hide his face from the scene unfolding.._

_They dragged behind them a person of ethereal beauty, dressed in torn but fine silks. The boy Jomei would have thought he was a samurai lord -- except for his red, red eyes and sharply pointed ears. He was bound by sacred ofuda and tied by ropes. The gathering crowd yelled, waited for the priest to come._

_His father, carrying the axe he used his his work, pushed his way through the crowd, saw the girl lying on the ground His face was incredibly angry. He lifted up his axe and_...

Jomei started awake, his heart pounding. He went and stirred the fire. Looking into the forest, he saw a glint of eyes, glowing redly.

The memory of that dream had stayed with him all day. He hadn't thought of his sister's death in years, not the memory of how ugly it was. After she died, her name was never mentioned in the family. It was like she had never lived, his older sister. Walking through the woods, he thought of how terrified her face was when she saw their father's axe, the anger in his face.

"Delusion is the nature of ordinary beings" he said. "Apart from delusion, there is no mind in us Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu"

Finding a good place to lay out his sleeping roll, he built a fire and began to wait for what the night would bring.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jaken stood up and squawked as the youkai walked into the garden.

'"Teijo-sama!" he said. "Wherever you go, there is trouble!" said the small youkai. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama!" he said, running off to the house, jumping on the porch nearly bumping into the daiyoukai where he stood, hand still on the shoji door.

"Silence yourself, Jaken," Sesshoumaru said as he stepped off of the long porch surrounding the house then down into the walkway. The small green youkai toddled off with the staff of two heads to take a position near Sesshoumaru but out of the way.

Kagome could feel the youki rising as Sesshoumaru looked at Teijo. She looked first at Sesshoumaru, then at InuYasha who seemed clueless about the newcomer. Hazuko whispered to Kagome "They don't like each other."

A windless breeze stirred the hair of the youkai lord. As if he had heard the quiet whisper, Sesshoumaru said, "Hakuzo, you need to air out your house. It smells like strange ningen," then returned his concentration to the newcomer.

InuYasha, feeling his brother's tension, stepped down from the porch, and stood next to him, arms folded across his chest. "And who is this guy?" he asked.

"'This guy' as you put it, is your father's younger brother. I am Teijo."

"He was my swordmaster when I was young, but then he left," Sesshoumaru said. "Your actions yesterday don't change much."

InuYasha looked at him, eyes narrowed. "So how come I've never heard of you before?"

"I was away," Teijo replied. "But now I am here." Teijo said, "I would travel with you, Nephew."

"Suit yourself. We leave in the morning," Sesshoumaru turned to move off to a corner of the garden near Rin.

Matsuo came up behind InuYasha. "He is my sensei."

"But he's not a monk," InuYasha said.

"No, he's not," Matsuo replied.

InuYasha, wondering about the undercurrents of things unsaid, went off to join Kagome. He sat down next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"We're not going to get to go home yet, are we?" she asked.

"Doesn't look that way."

She sighed.


	12. Midnight Trysts

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 12: Midnight Trysts

-------------------------------------------------------

How easy it is to see

the failings of others,

How hard it is to see

the failings of one's own heart.

One can winnow the faults of others

like chaff blown on a breeze.

One conceals one's own faults

Like a hunter who conceals himself in a blind,

camoflaging with sticks and leaves

---from the Dhammapada (adapted slightly)

----------------------------------------------------------

Kagome sighed.

"You don't know how glad I am to get out of that room!" she said as they entered the bed chamber Hazuko offered them for the night. "I kept expecting Sesshoumaru to challenge Teijo to a duel, and Hakuzo to hit everybody with fox fire. What a horrid dinner. I kept expecting the youki enough to bring the house down. I have no idea how Rin managed to fall asleep."

InuYasha grinned. "It's sure an odd group to be trying to work together. I mean I know my brother can be an arrogant ass, but did you notice Teijo? I didn't know that type of behavior was a family trait."

"Speak for yourself, InuYasha. There are times when you get angry you can look just like Sesshoumaru," Kagome said.

"I do not look ever look like that baka," he said, giving her a look very similar to Sesshoumaru's.

She surpressed a giggle while changing out of her day clothes into something to sleep in. "So tell me. Why were you in Hakuzo's house so long before Teijo came?"

"After we had looked at everything, we just started talking," he said, shrugging off his suikan. "Sesshoumaru wanted to know if we'd been having any problems, I think. It's amazing, but ever since that bout with Magatsuhi, I think that cold heart of his finally realized that I'm the only family he's got. He told me he would help us is we ever needed it."

_"So, Little Brother, I see you continue doing things the difficult way," Sesshoumaru said, as they left the library, filled with scrolls and papers scattered across the floor._

_"And what is that supposed to mean. Baka?" InuYasha said, crossing his arms in front of his chest._

_"Let's see. Not only did you choose to mate with a human, you chose a miko. Did you not find this made your life more...complicated?"_

_"Keh." InuYasha said. "Not much more than it was before. People had been talking and whispering about us since the beginning. Once they assumed. Now, it's just the reality they expected._

_"It's not so bad in our home village. We were married publicly, in the ningen way. We are accepted. Other places, well, it varies. It wasn't until this last trip out that we had any more than bad looks and gossip."_

_"Mated to a hanyou and still has her miko powers?" asked Matsuo, who had trailed behind them._

_"That bothers some people. Fucking bastards," InuYasha said. "Tough. Her heart is still purer than anybody else's I've ever met. We faced down Naraku. We can face any thing those little bastards want to do. And that includes Jomei."_

_"You could come here," Matsuo suggested._

_"What, and have to put up with all those Inu youkai stuffed shirts looking down their noses at me as not fit to live, and at Kagome for being ningen and a miko?" InuYasha shook his head. "No, we'll stay in Kaede's village."_

_"I will stand by you if you need me," Sesshoumaru said._

"Wow," said Kagome. "I'm impressed."

She slipped into the bed, wearing a light blue sleeping yukata while waiting for InuYasha to finish getting ready. As he undressed she watched his hair cascade down his back in a white river, the silver of it accented with warmth from the lamplight.

Kagome lay on her side on the futon, watching him through half shut eyes, not wanting him to see her stare at him as he stood there and maybe make a fuss. She wanted to just watch him, as he moved with a sleekly controlled power, a feral grace that awoke something warm inside of her as she looked. His ears, twitching idly, as he picked up on sounds of Hakuzo's house settling down for the night, just enhanced the sense of wildness that drew her to him. He did not let her get away with watching nearly as much as she wished. It was perfect, the way his skin glowed and the muscles rolled when he moved as he prepared for bed.. The lamplight merely added to the effect, highlighting his form. She didn't think she'd ever get enough of watching him.

"Oi, woman, don't pretend you're asleep," he said, sitting down on the bed. "I can tell, you know."

'I wasn't pretending. I was watching you." she said rolling over on her back.

"You like what you see?" he said, smirking while he slid under the covers.

"Oh yes, very much." She turned towards him, let him wrap his arms around her while she rested her head against his chest.

He buried his face in her hair, surrounding her with the sweet smelll, soap and spice and Kagome, found his hand sliding up along her side, cupping her breast. Her hand reached up towards his ear, rubbing the soft triangle in just that right way.

"Don't start something you can't finish, woman." he said, huskily, as the sensation that touch created washed over him from ear to groin..

"Who says I can't finish it?" she teased.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jomei slept uneasily beneath the full moon.

As he tossed and turned, a white fox, looking gray and silver in the moonlight, lay near his head, its forepaws crossed, as its eyes glowed watching him.

His breathing grew more agitated as he slipped back into a dream:

_His sister's voice echoed out on the street, yelling for help. He and his mother ran outside, and saw the village elders standing before his sister. Her clothes had been ripped and torn, and she bore bruises that were already visible. A streak of blood trickled down her forehead. Cast to the ground, a young man pinned her there with his foot. She wept with great heaving sobs._

_"Mareo-kun!" she screamed. "Mother! Help me!"_

_"We found her with this youkai!" the young man with his foot pinning her yelled. "She was pleasuring him in the forest!"_

_"Mareo-kun! Save yourself!" she sobbed, daring a glance at the youkai.._

_"Hoshiko!" the boy Jomei yelled, struggling in his mother's arms._

_His father, stern faced, in the first flush of his reaction, pushed his way through the crowd. He saw the girl lying on the ground, beaten, wounded, sobbing. His face was incredibly angry._

_"Run off and become a demon's whore? My flesh did this?" he yelled. He lifted up his axe and..._

_Jomei found himself in a different location._

_He found himself unable to move. He felt heavy, frozen, as if his limbs were made out of concrete. It did not stop the heart pounding in his ears, or the bile rising to his lips. He struggled invisibly, though the enitre time, ever since the men had burst into the meadow where he and his beloved Hoshiko had laid there together. He had been so caught up in the magic of her smile, her smell, her voice, that he had not realized they were near. They had slapped the ofuda on him before he had had a chance to react._

_Rough hands pulled him away from his beloved, dragged him across the ground, bound him with ropes._

_"Mareo-kun!" she cried. "Help me!"_

_He was raging inside, ripped apart. Immobilized, he could not even turn his head. They forced him to watch as they grabbed her by her beautiful raven hair, hit her perfect skin with their fists and feet, made her crawl. He watched in horror as they used her. He couldn't even yell, for they had sealed his lips._

_"Cover yourself up, whore," one of them ordered her when they were done. "You have shamed our whole village."_

Jomei snapped awake. He had been dreaming. He had been dreaming he was a youkai? The youkai who had gotten his sister killed? Sitting up, he saw the fox slink off into the trees, turning once to look directly at him, then disapearing into the shadows.

He found himself praying.

"All things change, and are without self,

No more real than the moon on water,

No more lasting than lightning,

No more substantial than shadow,

No morer permanent than dew.

Thus I prostrate myself before Amida Buddha.

"No words of evil are in his land;

No fear of evil doers, nor evil paths;

With sincere heart all beings worship him.

Thus I prostrate myself before Amida Buddha.

"I take refuge in the Buddha

I take refuge in the Dharma

I take refuge in the Sangha

"Namo Amida Butsu, Namo Amida Butsu, Namo Amida Butsu..."

He didn't think he'd get back to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teigo walked through the forest, surrounded by the darkness, needing to be away from the others.

Choosing a spot, a place where the moonlight cascaded down, he sat, and took out the red stone that he guarded. Holding the small stone in his hands, he could feel the energy from the stone cascade around him, gentle in its touch but fierce in its demand that he acknowledge it. It glowed with a red light beyond any reflection from the moonlight that touched it. As it gathered strength, the light cascading off the stone pulsed, throbbing like a heartbeat.

As it pulsed, wrapped around him, touching the shadowed silver of his hair with red light. The stone gave off a soft sound, almost a sigh. As the aura from the stone deepened, strengthened, Teijo could feel soft breath against his ear, tickling him. He could smell an essence that spoke of running through the woods, of moonlight, of water falling in the spring runoff, of jasmine. He closed his eyes.

He felt a warm hand enclose his, enterwining soft, graceful women's fingers around his calloused fingers.

"Nyoko..." he whispered. He knew if he opened his eyes to look, he would see nothing, the spell would be shattered. Yet he could hear the rustling of silk as she moved closer, the warmth of her, the contour of her shape, She leaned against him

"Teijo," she said, in a voice just above a whisper, like the sigh of the wind in the pines. "You have been busy, Guardian."

"Not me. Benzaiten, maybe. She moves us like stones on a go board," he replied.

"You, then are often the piece in her hand," Nyoko said.

"Perhaps. But you hold the gameboard."

"Perhaps," she said. "The Summoning has been made. The Journey begins. Next, then comes the Testing."

He shuddered, feeling her aura begin to fade."Nyoko--" he said

"Prepare," she whispered.

The stone in his hand pulsed one last time, then she was gone.


	13. Morning Rituals

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 13: Morning Rituals

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Like a person surrounded by water

who cries out in thirst --

Like a child of a wealthy home

who is lost among the poor.

going down dark paths of ignorance,

We wander through the Six Worlds,

From dark path to dark path--

When shall we be freed from birth and death?

O meditation, o zazen of the great wheel!

To this be the highest praise.

---Haikun (slightly adapted)

--------------------------------------------------------

The sky was just graying. InuYasha stepped out on the porch of Hakuzo's house, stretching the sleep from his body when he noticed a lone figure on the lawn. His uncle was kneeling on the ground, with his katana in front of him. InuYasha watched as the older youkai bowed, then sat back up, replacing the sword in his obi.

Teijo softly chanted: "Where is it that you can set your mind, O Warrior?

"If you set your mind

on the enemy's actions

your mind is taken

by the enemy's actions.

"If you set your mind

on the enemy's weapon

your mind is taken

by th enemy's weapon

"If you set your mind

on the sword in your own hand,

your mind is taken

by the sword in your own hand.

"Nowhere put the mind,

mind will be everywhere."

Teijo began a kata, rising first to one knee, smoothly unsheathing the sword as he turned a half circle, striking horizontally at an invisible enemy, then returning to the kneeling position. He continued, working through several variations. He moved with the fluidity of one who had much practice, a graceful union of man and sword. InuYasha, who was mostly a self-taught but effective warrior, unorthodox in approach, never with any time to learn the niceties of swordsmanship, watched his moves with some admiration.

Eventually, Teijo returned to the kneeling position, sat quietly in meditation. After a time, he stood up. "InuYasha," he said, turning towards the porch. "You are up early."

"Keh," InuYasha replied, standing up from where he had been seated. "It's normal for me." He walked down the step to join the youkai.

The two men looked remarkably alike, although Teijo bore the cheek crests of a Inu Youkai and seemed mature to InuYasha's youth. They could have easily passed as father and son. Teijo's silver hair was pulled back into a long, thick braid, though, and his dark clothing contrasted soberly with the red of InuYasha's. They stood there, looking at each other. One of Inuyasha's ears twitched at a distant sound.

"I make you uneasy, nephew," Teijo said.

InuYasha was about to say something rude to cover his feelings, but for some reason, held back. "Youkai, for the most part, have given me grief," he said. "I don't know you. Sesshoumaru doesn't like you. Why should I be at ease?"

"An honest answer," Teijo said. "But you should know that I harbor no ill will towards you or yours."

The hanyou crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I want to know why you suddenly show up when all this is starting to --"

"InuYasha!"

He turned back to look at the house, and saw Kagome walking towards them. She was dressed in a simple blue and white farm wife's yukata, still sleepy-eyed, but smiling. "Everybody's inside, getting ready for breakfast. Hakuzo-san would like to know if you want to join us," she said.

"She seems to be a remarkable woman," Teijo said.

"Yeah. She'd have to be to put up with me," InuYasha replied.

He hurried up to Kagome, took her by the hand. "Sooner we eat, sooner we can leave," he said, then led her back to the house.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miroku woke from a dream where he saw a large fox just looking at him. In the dream, the fox was trying to explain something important to him, but when he woke up, he couldn't remember what.

He woke up to the quiet room. Sitting up, he saw Koku in the corner where he was sleeping, snoring slightly. He turned over, and saw Sango next to him, with Kirara laying by her head. Kohaku and Shippou slept next to each other, not far from the door. Miroku stood up, then walked quietly, trying not to wake anyone else up, and stepped out of the hut, stretching to shake the sleep out of his head.

The sky was perfectly clear with early morning light. The sun had not yet crested the mountains. He wandered down to the stream, where he splashed water on his face to shake the last of the sleep out. Sitting down, he recited:

"All the evil karma,

ever created by me since of old;

on account of my beginningless greed, hatred and ignorance;

born of my conduct, speech and thought;

I now confess openly and fully.

"I venerate the Sacred One, the Great Sage, the Truly Enlightened One.

"I take refuge in the Buddha.

I take refuge in the Dharma

I take refuge in the Sangha."

Then he began his morning meditation as the sun rose clear above the mountains. A bit later, he became aware of someone who sat down next to him.

"Good morning Koku-san," he said, standing up to stretch. "You are as quiet as a fox."

He older man chuckled. He looked at the sky overhead, closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "It's going to be a good day for travelling, I think. Rinji is a pretty place. I'm glad you're coming to help us get rid of our problem."

Miroku smiled. In some ways, Koku reminded him of his foster father Mushin, and he felt very comfortable in his presence. "How long do you think it might take us to get there?"

"Tomorrow, I think," Koku said.

"Good. Was Sango up yet?" Miroku asked.

"Yes, she sent me for some more water." Koku got a bucket of water, and the two of them walked back to the hut.

Shippou ran out of the door as they neared, looked up at Koku, and said, "Will you tell us some more stories today?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was an uneasy group who gathered in Hakuzo's house.

They sat around the fire pit after breakfast. To the left and near the shoji doors, InuYasha protectively held an arm around Kagome. In the center were Sesshoumaru and the girl Rin and not far from them, the little green youkai Jaken. On the right, close to the fire so he could attend the pots on it, was Hakuzo, with Matsuo a respectful distance nearby. Not far from Matsuo, but far enough from the others, Teijo had taken his position. Hakuzo was mildly amused by the subcurrents among the Inu youkai. He suspected if they weren't blood related, that Teijo and his nephews would have been fighting already.

"Ah, this reminds me of the days when I took in students, having a houseful of people," he said. "Although, as a whole, in those days, they were usually a good bit noiser in the morning."

Kagome smiled. Matsuo sighed. The air grew quiet once again.

"His trail's headed towards Rinji," Teijo said after a few minutes. "I tracked it for awhile yesterday."

Sesshoumaru lifted an eyebrow. "Rinji? Fitting," he said.

"If he went that way, he's had enough time to reach it by now," said Matsuo. He fingered the beads of his rosary while watching the exchange.

"Doesn't mean he ended up there," said Hakuzo.

"Doesn't mean he didn't end up there, either," said Teijo. "The question is, do we want to go there? Will the Kami let us pass?"

"My hunt is not over," said Sesshoumaru.

Kagome looked at InuYasha, who shrugged. "What's Rinji?" she asked.

"There's a valley not far from here under the control of a powerful Kami. Strange things happen to people who wander into that valley," Hakuzo explained.

"Keh," said InuYasha, standing up. "The day's not getting any younger. I'm ready to go."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunlight filtered through the trees near where he rested, dappling the ground with dark and light across the sleeping form. Jomei after a long and restless night, had finally succumbed to the need for sleep. He lay there, curled up, but uneasy in his rest.

A white fox sat near his head, watching. From time to time, when the man's sleep got too restless, the fox would flick its tail, and the monk would settle back down.

"Well, Yuki, you've been doing a good job," a woman's voice said. The fox looked up, saw the woman, twitched its ears.

She was dressed in a 10 layer kimono, the top which was a shimmering white, and fastened with a blue obi. Her head was veiled with a pale blue kimono. Her eyes, though, were as black as night. "I wonder, though, if this one is yet learning what he needs? Do you think it will make a difference?"

The fox nodded once.

"Enjoy yourself today, Yuki. It's going to get busy soon."

Benzaiten turned and walked off.


	14. Night Visits

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 14: Night Visits

----------------------------------------------

To live in nothingness is to ignore cause and effect;

This chaos leads only to disaster.

The one who clings to vacancy, rejecting the world of things,

Escapes from drowning but leaps into fire.

From the Shodoka

----------------------------------------------

"This has to be one of the most unusual groups I've travelled with," Hakuzo told Kagome when they stopped for the evening. He had just come back with an arm filled with firewood, put it down, and sat next to her.

They had made camp early, mostly after Kagome complained loudly to InuYasha how tired she was, and he was able to get Sesshoumaru to agree. And she was tired. Her feet hurt from trying to keep up. InuYasha had travelled as rear guard and hadn't wanted to carry her, and Sesshoumaru had set a brisk pace.

Kagome sat by the fire, checking the rice pot, remembering fondly the days of ramen soup, and how fast it was to feed to people. Instead it was rice and soup and whatever InuYasha brought in from his hunting.

"Remind me how I never want to travel with a group of Inu Youkai again. One or two, maybe, but never four." Kagome replied.

"I'm surprised you haven't decided to tell us all to go to hell and returned home, Kagome-san," he said. "It can't be the easiest thing for a miko to put up with all the youki. Particularly with those three needing to work together and setting off sparks. At least Matsuo isn't part of the tension."

"I've travelled in Sesshoumaru-sama's company before during the search for Naraku. At first InuYasha and his brother acted very...well...abrasive towards each other, but towards the end, they were able to work together as allies, if not friends. But with whatever is going between Teijo and Sesshoumaru, it has made it uncomfortable," she admitted.

"That's a story in itself that goes back a long way between the two. I need to let one of them explain it to you," he said. "I'm just an humble scholar. I'm not brave enough to get in the middle of an Inu Youkai family squabble."

She made a wry face. "I can understand that. I've done it a couple of times."

Rin came up shyly next to Kagome.

"Kagome-sama, may Rin sit here with you?"

"Of course, Rin-chan. "What have you been doing since we stopped?" Kagome asked.

"I helped Ah Un find a meadow near here. Then I thought I heard Sesshoumaru-sama, so I came back, but it was InuYasha-sama instead. He was fishing in the stream we got the water from."

"I'm sure that means we'll have fish for dinner," Kagome said. "Better than just rice and dashi."

"Rin-chan, you like flowers, I know," said Hakuzo. "Do you know the story of the white and yellow chrysanthemums?"

Rin shook her head no.

"Well then, I'll tell it to you. Once, a gardener saw two chrysanthemums growing in a field, one yellow and one white. He took a liking to the yellow flower. 'Yellow Flower, would you like to come home with me? I'll treat you kindly and help you become far more lovely than you are now,' he told her, and she agreed. Waving goodbye to her sister, she went off to her new life."

InuYasha strolled into the campground with his fish.

Hakuzo continued his tale. "The gardener treated Yellow Flower very well, and her petals grew long, and her leaves shined and she looked perfect. Sometimes, though, she would think of her life in the field, and her sister, White Flower, and feel sad because she knew her sister had no one left to talk to. But when the gardener came by, she would forget all about it and be happy with him as he worked to make her more beautiful."

Kagome motioned for InuYasha to come sit by him. She helped him prepare the fish for cooking.

"But one day, a man came to the gardener, and said he was looking for a flower he could use to put on his lord's crest. The gardener walked him through the garden, and showed him Yellow Flower. The man said, 'No, my lord would like a chrysanthemum, but Yellow Flower is too elegant and fancy for what he wants.' and he went away.

"After leaving the gardener, the man came to the field where White Flower was. She, in her simple beauty was perfect. 'White Flower, would you like to be the object of my lord's crest? I would take you to his castle where you would have a very good life.' White Flower agreed, for she was lonely in her field, and so the man carefully took her to his lord's castle where she grew happily. The Lord was delighted with his White Flower, and soon artists came and painted her face on all the family's things. She no longer needed to look at herself in a mirror, for she saw her simple white face on lacquer boxes and robes and the family's most prized possessions.

"Alas, for Yellow Flower, for in becoming such a pampered lady, she had lost her strength. One day, she felt something horrid pass through her leaves, and she died. The gardener's attention to making her beauty more elaborate had stolen her health. But White Flower, carefully allowed to be her own beautiful self, not something she wasn't, lived a long and happy life in her lord's castle."

Rin smiled. "I like that story, Hakuzo-sama."

"Rin, would you go tell Jaken that dinner is nearly ready?" Kagome said.

She nodded and got up.

"Have you seen Teijo or Matsuo?" Hakuzo asked InuYasha.

InuYasha expertly skewered the last of the fish and placed it over the fire to cook, then got up and poured water over his hands. "Not for awhile. I saw them together, heading off towards the east."

"I'll go take a look," said the kitsune, then walked off.

"Did you see Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked.

"I think he was checking something he had scented. He was headed downstream last I saw him."

"So we make camp and everybody goes wherever?" she asked. "I think I have a bad feeling about this trip."

"Feh." InuYasha said, putting the last fish to the fire. "I suspect Sesshoumaru is out hunting for himself. He really doesn't like most ningen food. Who knows what Teijo is up to?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you want, Matsuo, you can spend the night with the others. I'll rejoin you in the morning," Teijo said.

They had walked a good bit away from the main camp. Out of sight, out of hearing, out of smell of the others.

"I thought they might rest easier without me there. Sesshoumaru is troubled by my presence. InuYasha, loyal without questioning, is bothered by Sesshoumaru's unease," he admitted.

"Sesshoumaru has trouble seeing obligations and loyalties beyond his blood and pack," said Matsuo.

"That, and he blames me for the way things turned out," Teijo said.

Matsuo raised an eyebrow, knowing that Teijo was leaving things left unsaid, but remained quiet and unsurprised. Teijo-sensei often left things about his obligations left unsaid.

"I will stay, Sensei," said the monk.

"Then let us meditate on this:

'"When you try to stop activity by passivity

your very effort fills you with activity.

As long as you remain in one extreme or the other

you will never know Oneness.'"

Later, Matsuo lay sleeping beneath the trees where he and Teijo had set up camp, away from the others.

A soft, shimmering light hovered a small distance away. Teijo sat up, saw the light, felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up. A white fox looked at him, patiently, flicked its tail, then turned, began to walk off towards the light, looking back once to see if the youkai was going to follow.

He stood up and quietly began to follow the fox towards the light.

She stood there, in a clearing, her white robes shimmering like moonlight, her presence radiating something that was neither ningen ki nor youki, but something more. She smiled at him gently, while the fox came and sat at her feet. Her eyes shined kindly, and she had a gentle smile; there was something about the beauty of her person which was both inviting and frightening and comforting at the same time.

He swallowed, breathed deeply. The red stone he carried in his robes began to radiate heat, heat he could feel through its wrappings and his kosode. He had only seen her one time before, and his whole life had been changed.

"Benzaiten-sama," he whispered.

"Yes, Teijo. It is time for you to come talk with me."

---------------------------

Kagome found herself in a gray place, lit with a soft light that had no obvious source.

"Welcome, little sister," a soft woman's voice said.

Out of the grayness, a lovely woman in a red kimono stood in front of her. She had brilliant green eyes. and ebony black hair. She was obviously youkai.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked.

"I need your help, little sister."

"Who are you? Why?"

"If you do not help me, those you love who have youkai blood will die."

The gray that surrounded them parted.

Kagome saw a battlefield of dead and dying youkai.

"This could come to pass without your help," said the woman.

Kagome walked over to the nearest group of bodies, where she saw a flash of bloodstained white Sesshoumaru lay there, dead and mutilated. She saw a gravely wounded Kirara, hiding the form of a cold and unmoving Shippou with his throat slashed.. Saw another body half buried by the others, bloody, red, and silver, and when she uncovered it, it was a cold and lifeless InuYasha.

"Help me, sister."

Kagome woke up screaming.


	15. Things Going Bump in the Night

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 15: Things Going Bump In the Night

--------------------------------------------------------

Appearance and intention --

how they ensnare when well used!

Even if they suspect

something behind the surface.

When you set up the ploy,

you win by letting them do the action.

--Adapted from Yagyu

--------------------------------------------------------

InuYasha jumped up almost immediately from where he had been sleeping against a base of a tree next to Kagome's bedroll. "Kagome!" he said, wrapping his arms around her. He sat down, pulled her into his lap.

"InuYasha, you're alive!" she cried, turning towards him and burying her face in his chest. She fisted his suikan, holding tightly, as if she might lose him. "It was so real. I could feel you," she sobbed. "You were so cold..."

"Hush," he said, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "It was just a dream."

"It was so real. You were dead, under the bodies of Kirara and Shippou, all dead. And Sesshoumaru, too. So many others. I could smell the blood. I could hear the flies." she said.

He rocked her gently, making soft comforting noises. Hearing a footstep, he looked up. Sesshoumaru stood before them, his white clothes and hair shadow wrapped and touched with red by the low fire burning near her bedroll.

"I heard the miko scream in her sleep," he said. As careful as the daiyoukai was about letting emotion show in his face, he looked at her with some concern in his eyes.

"I...I had a nightmare," Kagome replied, pulling away from InuYasha just a little so she could glance at him.

"You have taken her as your mate, Little Brother." It was a statement, not a question.

InuYasha nodded, stroking her hair. "Not long after we got Naraku."

"She has kept her miko powers?"

"Yeah," InuYasha said. "Why shouldn't she?"

"Most would consider it amazing that miko spiritual powers could co-exist when bonded to someone with Youkai blood, much less having lost the purity of her body."

Kagome sat up in InuYasha's arms, turned up her palm, and watched the aura around it grow clearly pink.

"Nobody's got a heart purer than Kagome," InuYasha said. "That's what counts."

"I see," said Sesshoumaru. "Stay close to together, you two. Rinji may mean peaceful forest, but strange things happen here. Nightmares and dreams ought not to be ignored. We are just at the edge. If the forest is reaching out to you already, Miko, you will surely need InuYasha's strength."

"I saw you and InuYasha dead, Sesshoumaru," Kagome said. "And many other youkais, stretched out on a battlefield. It was a warning. A woman asked for my help."

"It was just a dream, Kagome," InuYasha said, pulling her closer to him.

"Perhaps," said Sesshoumaru.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jomei was trying very hard not to fall asleep.

He stumbled down the trail, even though it was quite dark. Surrounded by trees lifting up their arms like midnight soldiers leading him on, he carefully walked down the trail, lit only by the moonlight. For some reason, it seemed the way before him opened up, prepared for his tired feet, step after step. He had no trouble with his footing, stumbling over neither rock nor root nor unlevel ground.

Sleep had become the enemy to him. No matter what wards he put up, no matter what ofuda he used, no matter what prayers he said, every time he closed his eyes, it seemed that he saw his sister's death over and over and over. Even now, he could remember the sound of her hopeless voice, the panic, the anguish in his mother's eyes, the sound of his father's axe falling. Sometimes he saw it as he did as a child, sometimes, as if he were her Youkai lover, sometimes as if he were his mother. Almost every time he woke up, he would see that damned white fox staring at him.

"Am I in Hell?" he asked. "Sentenced to wander forever reliving that day?"

He was so tired. He stopped, took a drink of water. Yesterday he ran out of food. But he wouldn't go thirsty. He kept crossing streams. Or was it the same stream, he wondered. Was he walking in circles?

"Namo Amida Butsu, Namo Amida Butsu," he chanted. "If this is Hell, please help me Jizo! I know I'm not a child but please remember me like you did that bad priest you went to help who only bowed to you every now and then. I know --- Now which way do I go?"

He came to a fork in the road. As far as he could tell from looking at them, both ways looked the same -- narrow, tree lined, mostly level. He started to the right, but saw something moving across the path. No, make that crawling across the path. It was a white snake, long and as round as his wrist. It should have been hard to see in the darkness, but somehow, it seemed to glow softly in a clear white shimmer. It reached halfway across, and began coiling up. As he watched, the snake rose up a bit, stuck out its tongue and looked at the monk.

"No," he thought he heard the snake say, in a soft, hissing voice."This path leads to death. Do not walk here."

A shiver went up his spine, and he slowly backed up.

"Then I will go left," he said, not taking his eyes off the snake until he had gone left enough to be out of its sight.

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InuYasha sat and held Kagome for what felt like a long time, rubbing lazy circles on her back, rocking her, stroking her hair, holdinging her closely, but she wouldn't relax and go back to sleep. She sat there in his arms, tense and unspeaking, only staring into the fire.

Suddenly, he picked her up bridal style and began running with her.

"InuYasha! What!' she said as he grabbed her.

"I'm getting us somewhere private, where we can at least talk without waking everybody up. You need to do more than stare into the fire," he replied. "You need to sleep. I've never seen you this upset over a nightmare."

"I've never had a nightmare that seemed that real," she replied.

Moonlight filtered through the trees as he ran with her, playing with the shadows, and the wind danced in his silver hair, giving him his own ghostlike shimmer. Suddenly though, he stopped, his ears twitching.

He whispered to her, "There are youkai nearby...and humans."

Putting her down, he turned around to see Teijo and Matsuo. Teijo motioned for him to be silent, then waved him on to follow.

He whispered, "Stay behind me and out of the way, Kagome. You don't even have your bow."

She nodded.

Moving very quietly, they came across a group of five warrior monks, resting around a small fire. One, wearing his hood, kept watch, sitting on the ground, but his hands clasping a naginata. Teijo motioned Matsuo, armed with his staff to the left. He circled to the right, where the guard sat. InuYasha unsheathed Tessaiga.

Suddenly, Teijo grabbed the guard up, ripped his throat with a clawed hand. The man gurrgled as the blood squirted forward, and dropped his naginata. The naginata hit one of the monks who sat up instantly, with a yell. Blocking his opponent's sword draw by jabbing the butt of his katana handle into his chin, he pulled his scabbard back, freeing his sword, which he raised in an overhead arch to come crashing down on the monk.

InuYasha jumped in with a yell, almost simultaneously and quickly eliminated the monk closest to him. Matsuo had knocked one of the monks unconcious, and was concentrating on the second when Teijo stepped in and made short work of him.

Kagome was impressed with how quickly it happened.

Matsuo bound the unconscious monk and heaved him ovver a shoulder. "Take him to Sesshoumaru?" he asked.

Teijo nodded.

"Thank you," he said, turning to InuYasha. "It made the job simpler."

InuYasha didn't think his uncle needed him at all.

----------------------------------------------------------------

They had made good time, it seemed. The roads dwindled to paths, but they were over smooth ground, lightly forested and flat that made for easy walking. Koku had assured them that tomorrow they would get to Rinji and the job he had for them. Miroku had found a good campsite. It was near water, had shelter from any nearby roads, and a good place to lay out the bedrolls. There was no hint of rain. Sango and Shippou had gone hunting and come back with several plump rabbits, which Miroku made into a stew. They had a good time talking around the fire, Even Kohaku laughed some at a silly story that Koku had told them. After the good rabbit stew and good talk, everybody settled down for some serious rest.

Later, after everybody else was sound asleep, Koku got up, and rummaged in his bag, and took out a large mallet. While he was doing this, something about him changed. He grew stouter, and his peasant clothes transformed from poor simple hemp cloth to something soft and silky. He himeself began to glow with an internal light, neither human ki nor youki, but something warm and happy that would fill the watcher with hope and the knowlege that luck is on their side. He hefted his mallet and struck it on the ground. A soft blue light shimmered over the entire campsite, and as it touched the sleepers, they each stirred a little, and made soft sounds. Even Kirara mewed, opened one eye.

"No, you need to sleep, my friend," he said, touching her lightly. You need to be a part of this too."

The firecat purred softly, fell back asleep.

There was a scratching in his bag. He opened it up, and out popped a rather large rat who ran to sit on his shoulder.

"Well, hello, friend. You've come to keep old Daikokuten company? There will be no oni to fight today," he said to the rat. The rat wiggled his nose and brushed his whiskers in acknowledgement.

He walked to the edge of the clearing. "Good luck friends. I have errands to run. I am sure Benzaiten will take fine care of you. I leave you with Daikoku's blessing."

And with that, the kami walked off into the night.


	16. As the Sun Rises

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil In Men's Hearts

Chapter 16: As the Sun Rises

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Make haste in doing good and restrain the mind from evil;

if one is slow in doing good, the mind finds delight in evil.

If a man commits evil let him not repeat it again and again;

let him not delight in it, for the accumulation of sin brings suffering.

If a man commits a meritorious deed, let him perform it again and again;

let him develop a longing for doing good;

happiness is the outcome of the accumulation of merit.

-----The Dhammapada, 9

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"InuYasha!"

Kagome stepped out of the shadows from behind a large tree where she had been hiding. Even in the darkness, InuYasha could see the distress on her face as the moonlight touched her hair, her face. He walked up to her, wrapped his arms around her.

"It's over, Kagome. Everything's over," InuYasha said. "I'm sorry this has been such a hard night for you."

He kissed her lightly on the forehead. She pulled back, her body tense.

"Who were they? And why did you attack them?" she asked.

Teijo walked up the path and stepped up next to them. As Kagome watched him walk, she thought how threatening he could look, amber eyes glowing, silver hair catching the moonlight, an eerie, otherworldly force, barely reined in. His youki was still strongly aroused, as if it were scanning the area, and echoed the somber controlled violence of his person. Until this moment, she hadn't thought of the threat he and all the other youkai she was with contained, but there it was, that non-human magic pressing against her senses. She could feel her aura trying to flare, worked to keep it under control.

"Sohei were where warrior monks should not be," Teijo said. "They were looking for Jomei, I think. I ran across them by accident earlier tonight. They were talking about him. He had been supposed to meet up with them at Udo village."

Looking down at Kagome, InuYasha said, "We're lucky we didn't stumble across their camp by accident. We could have, the way we were going."

The implications of that were not pleasant. Kagome shuddered, still haunted by her nightmare. InuYasha pulled her closer, rested his chin on her head, trying to comfort her even as he felt his anger rising.

"I think they were following Sesshoumaru's trail, although I might be wrong," Teijo said. "These people know about Youkai traits. They would have wanted to stay out of sensing range. But it could have been just chance."

"I want to know is what are human warriors of any type doing this far into my brother's territory?" InuYasha said, looking at Teijo. "There aren't that many human villages this close to his castle. Udo village is only half a day away. Why should there be any monks like that here? How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know," Teijo said. "But it's time to find out."

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Sango turned in her sleep where she lay near Miroku. Her body glimmered with the blue light that the kami Daikokutan touched her with, and as it wound its way across her body, she found herself slipping into a deep dream.

_She was standing in an open field on a winter's day, under a slate gray sky. Suddenly, she heard a heart-wrenching wailing. _

_Turning, she saw a woman in a red kimono. The bright red fabric had been stained even darker in places with blood. Tears streaked down her face, along with scratches. Her long black hair fell in unkempt disarray to the ground, like a black curtain behind her back. Scratches from her claws marred her perfect porcelain skin. She was weeping over the body of a dead man, stretched out in front of her._

_She was youkai._

_"Yashou!" she wept. "Why would they take you from me?"_

_The man had been severely gashed, and blood from his wounds was drying on his clothing. She rested his head in her lap, bending over him gently._

_"What happened?" Sango asked, kneeling next to the woman._

_She looked up, looked into Sango's eyes with anguished green eyes. "They killed my husband," said the Kitsune. "Yashou's not even a warrior. He's a healer. Why? What harm had he caused anyone?"_

_"Who did this?" Sango asked, placing a hand upon the grieving woman's shoulder._

_"My uncle, my brothers. He told me he was removing the taint from our family."_

_Sango placed her arms around the woman, rocked her gently._

_Suddenly, there was no woman, no body. Sango found herself holding a lotus blossom. _

_"Suffering has no boundaries," said a soft voice from nowhere. "A rock thrown into water has many ripples. You have felt its touch, too. Watch, learn"_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sky had begun to gray, an almost imperceptible shift in the sky.

Kagome lay next to InuYasha, snuggling under the warm cover of his fire-rat suikan draped over the both of them. After leaving Teijo, they had come here; they had not returned to Sesshoumaru and the others. Instead, InuYasha had found this place, a rock shelter, almost a shallow cave, on a rise overlooking the valley they had been travelling in. He had built a small fire for heat and for light then laid down next to her.

"Are you okay with us being here with Sesshoumaru, Kagome? We could go home," he told her. He breathed in her scent, smelling her fatigue and anxiety.

She had rested her head on his shoulder, and he made lazy circles with his hand on her back.

"I feel confused, InuYasha," she said, "It seemed easier to know who was good and bad when we were fighting Naraku. Now I feel afraid to be around humans I don't know, and safer around youkai, at least the ones I know."

He cupped her face in his hand, gently running his thumb over her cheek. "I am so sorry. I knew it was going to be hard for you to be with me. This world does not approve of me, or humans who side with youkai and hanyou. I was such a selfish bastard asking you to stay instead of sending you home while we had the chance."

She lifted her head, looked into his saddened amber eyes, placed a finger over his lips. "Ssshh...don't talk that way. It's not you I'm confused about, InuYasha. You are where I am supposed to be. It's all those others..."

He took her hand, kissed the palm, surrounding it with his large and calloused hand, resting them over his heart. He kissed her gently, a soft touch that echoed his concerns. "If you would have left, I think I would have grieved to death," he said.

Kagome nuzzled her head under his chin, sighed. The sky was growing lighter, and it would not be long before the sun was up. She sat there, quietly in his arms, watching the sun as it began to lift above the horizon.

"I don't want to go home yet," she said at last. "We need to be here, I think.

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Sleeping near Sango, Miroku turned in his sleep. His hand, once cursed, touched her back. The blue light surrounding them sparked, settled. Miroku sighed in his sleep and began to dream.

_Miroku seemed to be sitting under a tree, watching the sun rise._

_It was quiet, still. Somewhere, one sole bird sang a greeting to the sun, but he heard no other sound. A very soft breeze touched his face. He sat in his meditation posture, feet on thighs, one hand wrapping the other. He held his thoughts in expectant mindfulness, feeling each breath as it entered his lungs and left._

_"Can you not hear them?" a voice whispered in his ear._

_Suddenly, he began to hear the soft sighing, turning into weeping, building into cries of despair and grief. Pain. Loss. Misery._

_"The voice of Dukkha, Suffering," continued the voice, soft and feminine. "The first noble truth."_

_He turned his head, and looked at her. It was the fox who had talked to him the night before. Miroku did not know how he knew that, but he was sure it was true. The fox was an irridescent white, holding in its paws, a single lotus blossom._

_"Be my helper, Miroku." she said. "There are souls here in need of mercy. I will guide you." The fox handed him the lotus._

_He looked at the closed bud resting in his hand, and he watched it open, radiant. At its heart, he saw three figures, one woman, two men._

_"You will meet them soon. Help me set them free." she said. _

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Jomei hobbled into the clearing.

Once, during the night, he had spotted something dash across the path. Startled, he had tripped, hitting his knees and hands, wrenching his ankle. During the fall, he had cut his robe at the knee, catching a rock. His knee had bled, and felt swollen as well.

He was in trouble and knew it. Hungry, exhausted and in pain, unable to really walk on his swollen foot, he felt ready to sit there, and let the darkness take him.

"No words of evil are in his land, " Jomei chanted.

"No fear of evil doers, nor evil paths;

With sincere heart all beings worship him.

Thus I prostrate myself before Amida Buddha.

"I take refuge in Buddha, I take refuge in Dharma, I take refuge in Sangha. Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu. Namo Amida Butsu."

He continued chanting the Nembutsu until he nodded off, for once a deep and dreamless rest.

Suddenly, he came awake.

A woman stood in front of him, bowing politely. She was dressed in a simple blue kimono, with an apron tied around her waist and her hair covered with a kerchief. The fact that she had green eyes and that reddish hair peeked out from beneath her kerchief, did not register on his befuddled brain. "Houshi-sama, let me help you. I have a hut just beyond those trees there. You've been injured. It would please me if you would let me take care of your hurts."

He tried to stand up, leaning on his staff. Pain lanced through his leg. His ankle had swollen while he had rested.

She wrapped a strong arm around him, helping him to stand up. Putting her shoulder under his free arm, she supported his weight, and began to help him walk.

"It's not far from here. I have some rice porridge waiting. And there's tea, and a futon you can rest on," she said.

Some deep part of his mind screamed out about fox magic.

The rest of him let himself be led away.


	17. Pathways to Testing

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahasi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 17: Pathways to Testing

----------------------------------------------------------------

Lost on dark paths of ignorance

we wander through the six worlds,

from dark path to dark path we wander,

when shall we be freed from birth and death?

---Haikun

-----------------------------------------------------------------

They were not far from the mound of dirt where Matsuo had seen to the burial of the dead sohei, the best he could do under the circumstances. A lingering smell of incense wafted through the air.

"Who is to know whether I go before others, " Matsuo chanted.

"Or whether others go before me,

Whether it will be today

Or if it will be tomorrow?

Like countless drops of dew

Are those who have left before us

The morning may find us radiant and in health,

The evening might find us as white ashes.

When the winds of impermanence blow,

Our eyes are closed forever.

Thus we must turn to the teachings of the Buddha

And awaken to the ultimate source of life.

He gassho'd one last time and walked away from the grave and to the trees beyond where his companions waited. The sun had not been up long, and the early morning light passed honey colored light through the branches of the trees. He walked quietly, pensively as he joined the others.

"It was rather an eventful night," said Hakuzo. "I am amazed that I slept through it.

"You could say that," Matsuo said. "I was able to save one of them, but I don't know how compassionate I was turning him over to Sesshoumaru."

Hakuzo nodded, having been wakened when Matsuo arrived. "Not the first incident. Before that, Kagome-san had a particularly disturbing nightmare, with many dead youkai. It woke up most of us."

"Ah. Perhaps that explains why she and InuYasha were away from the camp," Matsuo looked at his hands, brushed them off on his robes, picked up his staff where he had left it leaning.

"You saw them last night?" Hakuzo said.

"He joined in the fight. Kagome-san seemed distressed, even before she knew what was going to happen."

They fell quiet for a moment. "Somehow, I feel caught up in something I'm not sure I want to be in," said Matsuo.

Teijo stepped out from behind a tree. "Welcome to Rinji," he said. "Tell me more about her dream."

--------------------------------------------------

Miroku woke up, sunlight streaming into his face. He shook the memory of the strange dream aside and sat up, stretched.

He looked over to the sleeping woman near him. He liked to watch her rest, all the cares smoothed from her face to reveal the pretty sweetness that had first caught his eye. Thinking about their upcoming wedding, he smiled, then gently shook her shoulder. "Good morning, my beautiful Sango," he said. "I believe we've slept a bit late."

She blinked, came too groggily, smiled as she saw his face. "I was having the saddest dream," she said, sitting up." Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked over the camp. "Miroku-kun, where's Koku?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just got up," he said. "He must have gotten up before us."

Miroku stood up, rolled up his bedroll, grabbed the water bucket, and went down to the creek.

Rocks in the stream created a small riffle, where the water gurgled by whitely to create a pool behind it. Willow and other trees lined the stream, but here, he could walk out on a rock and scoop up the clear water. He filled the wooden bucket, poured some of the water on his hands, and splashed it on his face, feeling the shock of it. It was very cold.

Sitting down, his mind went back to the dream. "The first noble truth," he said. "Life is suffering." He thought about the three he saw in the lotus.

"The second noble truth: suffering comes through attachment. If the dream is true, I wonder what attachment bound those three together?"

Kohaku came walking down the path to the river. Ever since the end of their quest, he had come to stay with them, but he remained a quiet, rather withdrawn boy, seldom talking unless spoken to. Miroku was surprised that he came and sat down next to him, propped his head on his knees and looked out into the distance.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

The boy shrugged. "I keep having dreams about Rin and Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin is grown up and fighting someone with a naginata. Sesshoumaru-sama is hurt. There's a white fox telling me I have to help her." He looked up at Miroku. "I don't know how to help her."

--------------------------------------------------

Teijo walked quietly to the back of the queue of daiyoukai, kitsune hanyou and humans. They were well into the valley of Rinji now.

He thought of the kami who had called him last night.

_"You put this in my hand years ago," Teijo said, handing a silk wrapped packet to Benzaiten. "I give it back, safely, into your hands."_

_The kami shimmered whitely with her own light, reached out and took the small package. "You have kept trust well, Guardian," she said, sighed, looked wistful. "The time is now. Can you feel it? The storm that she released so long ago that Kukai tried to bind gathers force, ready to explode across the land."_

_"She would atone," he replied. "She has many regrets."_

_"Atoning for dropping a stone in the pond will not stop the ripples," said the kami. "The price that must be paid will be high."_

_"I will not abandon her," he said._

_"No. You will not. You have long passed the test. The others, we will see."_

'She didn't take any time to start the testing,' Teijo thought.

InuYasha was walking up front with his brother. He was not happy. He turned towards Sesshoumaru, stopped walking.

"Those sohei were living in Udo! " InuYasha said. "Do you realize how close that is to the castle?"

Sesshoumaru stopped and turned to face him. "Yes," he said.

"You fucking let the people who want to kill you start a mission half a day's walk from your home!"

Teijo watched the people ahead of him as they stopped and listened. Rin who had been walking with InuYasha's woman, stopped as Kagome stopped and looked at the two brothers. Jaken, at the sound of the raised voices hurried to stand near Sesshoumaru, dropping the leads of the two headed dragonet. The monk Matsuo brought back was riding thrown across the back of Ah-Uhn, bound and not fully conscious, and he moaned slightly as the dragonet suddenly stopped. Teijo was rather surprised Sesshoumaru hadn't killed him. Matsuo and the miko had been stopping and checking him from time to time. He had a nasty cut on his forehead, neatly bandaged, and other injuries from the staff that the youkai monk had wielded, but right now nobody was paying much attention to him. Kagome dropped Rin's hand, a look of concern on her face, and began moving towards the front of the group.

Sesshoumaru looked at his brother with just the slightest look of irritation on his nearly passionless face. "This Sesshoumaru does not manage the day-to-day affairs of the ningens who live under his protection."

InuYasha's ears twitched in agitation. He crossed his arms in front of him, hiding them in the depths of his red sleeves. " Hmpf. So what do you do? How many other enemies of yours are there running around the countryside because you turn your back on the humans in your territory?"

"Calm yourself, Little Brother," Sesshoumaru said. The daiyoukai began to be noticably irritated, his youki rising in response.

"How dare you address Seshoumaru-sama that way!" said Jaken, holding himself as haughty as a small person who looked like a cross between a kappa and a toad could, carried his staff high. "He has no need to answer to a halfbreed like you."

"Silence, Jaken," said Sesshoumaru.

Kagome reached InuYasha, rested a hand on his shoulder. InuYasha put an arm around her shoulder, drawing her close, and took a deep breath, inhaling Kagome's calming scent. "Let's take a break, InuYasha. You two can talk about this later." she said.

"Calm myself, he says," InuYasha muttered, knowing that Sesshoumaru could still hear him, but letting Kagome lead him away from his brother. "In the last week Kagome and I have been attacked and held captive, Rin's been threatened, Hakuzo was wounded, and last night less than an hour away from us, there was a whole group of these people waiting for us to stumble over them. All of this has taken place in the Western Lands, and he tells me to calm myself."

The older youkai turned and looked at him. "And how would you deal with it?" Sesshoumaru asked.

InuYasha turned and faced him. "I wouldn't be turning my back on what's going on in the human villages!" InuYasha replied.

Hakuzo moved over towards Teijo. "Amazing. Before Naraku's death, they would have probably drawn swords and started fighting," he whispered.

Teijo raised an eyebrow. "Before Naraku, they wouldn't have been caught dead working together, either, from what I've heard."

Hakuzo tipped his head in agreement. "That is true."

Moving forward, they entered a clearing that looked like it had recently been a camp site. Matsuo who was walking ahead of the group, bent over, picked something up. "Jomei had been here. This was his fan," he said, holding up the fan he had given him a few days earlier.

Out of sight, hidden by a shrub, a white fox watched them patiently.


	18. Something in the Air

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 18: Something in the Air

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All men tremble at punishment.

All men fear death.

Remember that you too are like them,

and do not kill,

nor cause the death of others.

All men tremble at punishment.

all men love life.

Remember that you too are like them,

and do not kill,

nor cause the death of others.

Those who dig the wells control water.

Carpenters shape the wood.

Good people shape themselves.

---Dhammapada, 10

---------------------------------------------------------

"A war fan?" Sesshoumaru said.

Matsuo nodded, standing up. He brushed the dust from kneeling off of his black robes. "A gussen."

The daiyoukai had taken the fan from the monk's hand. Sesshoumaru's beautiful face, impossible to read as usual, stared at the blue and silver fan, touched the iron ribs. It was clearly a weapon. A slight breeze blew up, stirring the silver hair of his bangs. Sesshoumaru opened the fan, looked at the poem written on it.

"Mistake false for true," he read outloud. "Miss the truth of life."

Teijo, InuYasha and Hakuzo had gathered around the two inuyoukai, walking around the camp site for a little while, looking for other signs. There was little else to see. A wide spot between two narrow trails, a clearing around a broad tree, the remnants of a campfire, long cold.

"He headed east," InuYasha said, looking down one of the trails. His ears flicked, on alert, although the only sounds were the breeze and distant bird calls.

"There's something in the air here that doesn't make sense," Hakuzo whispered, sitting down near the cold fire ring. "I can't quite put my finger on it. It's not shouki..."

"Keh," said InuYasha, leaning back against the tree, close to the kitsune. "There's a lot about this whole journey that doesn't make sense."

Hakuzo snorted at the hanyou, gave half a smile.

Sesshoumaru suddenly closed the fan. "Tell me, Monk, why does this fan smell like you, even more than Jomei?"

Matsuo looked at him calmly. "Because I gave it to him."

All eyes looked at the black-robed youkai. Suddenly, Matsuo felt the tip of the fan under his chin. Sesshoumaru stared at him with narrowed eyes, his youki rising, but poised, controlled. "Explain yourself."

"I asked him to," said Teijo.

-----------------------------------------------------

Jomei came to with a start.

He was in a small room, lying on a futon. Light dimly trickled through the paper glazed window of a shouji door. This room was nearly bare except for the bed he slept on, a low table nearby, and an alcove with a small arrangement of flowers. In one corner he noticed his bag, his outer robes, his staff and hat were neatly resting. It felt very peaceful.

He shifted to his side as he woke up, and realized that his foot hurt badly. He remembered tripping and injuring his foot, and how someone, a woman, came and brought him here, but the memory was fuzzy, almost like a dream, but then he had slept deeply and dreamlessly. Trying to sit up, he threw off the quilt and saw his foot, neatly bandaged Jomei gingerly tried putting weight on his foot, and winced. There was no way he would be walking far today.

From the front of the house, he could hear a dull beating rhythm, like the movement of a loom. A woman's voice sang, softly and sweet:

"Pass through, yes, pass through

And where will this path lead you?

Take this winding road,

Hand in hand carry your load

This road to the shrine.

"Pass through, yes, pass through,

And will you know what to do?

The foxes stand guard,

The winter wind is very hard

There around the shrine.

"Pass through, yes, pass through.

Going they will let you through

The foxes in red,

Returning might see you dead

Leaving from the shrine."

"A strange song," he thought. It had a strong rhythm like a children's song that went well with the beating of the loom. The tune felt familar, reminding him of something he had lost from his childhood, perhaps something his mother used to sing. From the good days...before. He lay back down on the futon, feeling lightheaded, letting the clicking rhythm and the words dance around him.

"Foxes, foxes," he muttered. Closing his eyes, he could see them, white as snow and red, dancing around him, dragging scarves of red silk that fluttered in their dance, jumping over him, weaving around him. With a struggle, he opened his eyes, saw nothing but the bright daylight and a simple room. A small, strangled part of him felt the rising danger, set his spine tingling as a swell of youki washed over him, as soft as the silk scarves, brushing across his mind, his will, his body. As he lay there, though, the gentle touch relaxed him, and he forgot why he should be feeling panicked, and closed his eyes.

"Pass through, yes, pass through," said the soft voice. He felt a softness touch his cheek. The world turned dark.

--------------------------------------------

Shippou noticed the flash of white ahead of him.

They were walking around the campsite, looking for some sign of Koku, not knowing why he had disappeared during the night. Sango had taken Kirara up and flew over the area in long lazy circles on the neko's back, but had come back to rejoin them after a time. "I didn't see anything from the air," she said as she got off of the firecat's back, and Kirara transformed back into her kitten form.

The little kitsune walked towards the flash he thought he saw in some tall grass near the edge of their campsite.

Miroku and Kohaku stood up, picked up their packs. "So what do we do now?" Miroku said.

Shippou ignored the adults behind him. could feel something...an aura? It wasn't like Miroku or Kagome's aura, like human ki. It wasn't youki, either...but it was powerful. The scent of it, whatever it was, teased him with a familiarity he couldn't quite place, but felt like he should know. It reminded him of...well, home. He wasn't sure if it was the smell from his parents' den or something else, but it made him long to find it, discover why it smelled like that. He ducked through the brush.

"I don't know Did Kuko wander off and get hurt? I'd hate to leave him if he's gotten injured," Sango said, biting her bottom lip.

Miroku sighed. "I suspect that means we don't go home yet."

"Could it be a trap? But why?" Sango asked. "Maybe Shippou could help us find...Shippou?" she said, looking around. The kitsune was nowhere to be seen.

"He was walking over towards those weeds, " Kohaku said

Calling his name, they began to follow.

---------------------------------------------------------

"Ah, Houshi-sama! " said a soft and cheery voice.

Jomei opened his eyes, startled, to see a pair of bright green eyes looking down into his. The eyes belonged to a pleasant looking woman, dressed in a simple blue kimono and white obi. Her head was covered with a peasant woman's head scarf. She smiled at him. He shook the sleep out of his head, sat up.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"Oh, you can call me Tama," she said. "You should get up if you can. It's late afternoon. Would you like something to eat? Let me help you move into the other room so you can sit near the fire pit."

She knelt down beside him and helped him stand up. Standing up shakily, he was lightheaded and winced when putting weight on his foot and had to lean on her for support. He looked at her, small, petite, dressed like a farmwife, chattering away. Red hair peaked out from her kerchief. He knew this was significant, but could not remember why. Instead, he focused on her animated face, one that looked kindly.

"Did you rest well?" she asked, as she helped him into the front room. "I have some miso soup and rice for you. How's your foot? It looked like you twisted it badly. I hope the wrappings are helping. I can make you some tea for the pain if it's hurting too badly."

Finally, the world settled down, and stopped spinning. He found his tongue. "Peace, woman. One thing at a time."

She blushed, bringing her hand to her mouth in embarassment. "Sorry, sorry, sorry. Forgive me, Houshi-sama. It's so seldom I have anyone to speak to that I'm afraid I have far too much talk saved up."

They moved together into the other room. There was a loom and a spinning wheel, a small shelf with yarns and tools against one wall, which had a large, shuttered window. The window was wide open, letting in the light. There was a built-in cabinet, and a fire pit, a table. The shoji doors were open to add in more light. She settled him down near the firepit, drew up a low table, and quietly served him soup and rice.

He ate in silence for a time. She tended the fire, replenished his bowl.

Suddenly, there was a scratching and he looked up. A white fox stood at the door and yipped.

"Well hello there, Yuki! Did you come to meet Houshi-sama?" Tama asked the fox.


	19. Veiled Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 19: Veiled Discoveries

----------------------------------------------

I send down the rain of Dharma

Filling all the world

The Dharma of one taste is

Cultivated according to their power

Just like those forest groves

All the herbs and trees

According to their size

Grow and flourish well.

The Dharma of all the Buddhas

Is always of a single taste

It causes all the world

To attain perfection.

Through its gradual cultivation

All attain the fruits of the Way.

Lotus Sutra, 5

--------------------------------------------

The air was charged with youki -- Sesshoumaru's, and in response, Teijo's. A breeze not created by nature rose, stirring the hair of the daiyoukai. Teijo walked up behind Matsuo, put a hand on his shoulder. "Mistake false for true, and name that which is true false -- miss the truth of life, Nephew," he said.

Sesshoumaru glanced awake from Matsuo, looked hard at Teijo, but lowered the fan in a flash of blue. It had left a small indentation at the base of the monk's chin. Matsuo, letting out a breath, but otherwise keeping whatever thoughts he had under control, stepped back, rubbing his chin. Hakuzo pulled him back to stand next to InuYasha, blocked InuYasha's urge to step forward with an outstretched arm, leaving a wide space around the two Inu youkais.

"Wait," the kitsune said.

InuYasha looked at Hakuzo, as if weighing what he said, and raised an eyebrow, one hand clutching the hilt of Tessaiga in a ready position. Matsuo grabbed his arm, nodded. "They have...issues, " he said, quietly.

"Have had for a long time," said Hakuzo.

Slowly, the surge of youki calmed down, although the air still felt tense. Matsuo shifted his feet, and stepped on a twig. The sound seemed very loud.

"I knew something brought you out of your hovel in the mountains, Teijo. You have never shown up without some purpose of your own," Sesshoumaru said, his face stony, eyes narrowing.

"I try not to mistake the false for the true," Teijo replied. "I am bound to a higher duty."

"Repeat that at the shrine of my father," Sesshoumaru said.

A shadow of pain briefly touched Teijo's eyes, and he tilted his head, almost a sign of submission, but not quite. "Nephew --"

"Your higher duties have always seemed more important that your duties to pack," Sesshoumaru said. "Why are you here this time?"

"Sometimes they coincide," the older youkai said."Jomei is something I am required to deal with." He turned, and headed down the path

"What--" InuYasha said. He suddenly realized how tensely he had been standing, battle ready, and shifted his stance.

"Later," said Hakuzo. "It's a long story."

----------------------------------------------------------------

Miroku pushed through the weeds. They were dry, and crunched as he stepped through them. Seed heads stuck to his dark robes as he pushed through. He reached out with his spiritual sense, looking for the touch ot the little kitsune. Shippou's youkai signature was weak, being a young child, but he usually could find it. But his senses felt weak, as if there were something interfering, blanketing it. Not human ki, not youki, but something else.

"Like searching through a fog," he thought.

Sango and Kohaku followed behind him, making little effort to be quiet as their feet crunched through the dried weeds.

"If anything happens to Shippou," Sango said, "It would break Kagome's heart."

"Beautiful Sango, it would break all our hearts," Miroku replied. "Even InuYasha's. I would not want to break that piece of news."

"Shippou!" he called out.

"I can't believe we've lost two people in the same day," Sango said. "What is this place?"

They had reached a path once they got out of the weeds. The soft dirt was clearly marked with tracks which resembled the small, foxlike feet of the boy. Sango knelt down and looked at the prints.

"They are definitely foxy prints...looks like something went by on four legs, and another went by later on two...I think," she said. "I'm not an expert tracker, though, by any means."

"Would he have followed something?" Miroku asked. "What would he have followed?"

The trail ran into the woods ahead.

"Well, let's go." Sango said, straightening up.

They didn't have to go much further. Miroku spotted him first, squatting beneath an oak tree, his red pony tail bobbing as if he were nodding to someone. He didn't act like he noticed them coming, totally involved with whatever he was doing.

"Shippou!" Sango yelled.

The little kitsune stood up, looked over his shoulder, smiled with a broad grin. "Hi, guys! I knew you were coming!"

"Shippou, what are you doing doing?" Miroku asked.

"Come meet her! You'll like her!" he said, waving them on. They grew closer, saw the russet eyes and white nose looking up at them over Shippou's shoulder.

"This is Tsukikage. She's a spirit fox. She told me where we can meet up with Kagome!"

----------------------------------------------

The first thing Saicho noticed as he came to was the sight of a pair of bright eyes staring at him, the eyes of a child in a yellow kimono. She looked at him with a hesitant, curious smile. The second was that he lay straddled across the back of a large beast.

"Hello," said the child "Are you awake?"

Then he realized two other things. His head hurt terribly, and that he was bound.

"Yes," he replied.

The girl disappeared.

A moment later, he found the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Looking up, painfully, he saw a man standing in front of him, dressed in white silk. No, not a man. Youkai. Cold yellow eyes looked down on him. Above the eyes was a blue crescent moon, and his face was adorned with stripes. Pale of skin and white haired. He could feel the touch of his youki.

His blood froze.

"Tell me, O monk, how you found yourself in the Western Lands?" the youkai demanded.

He fainted.

The next time he woke up, it was to hands dragging him off the beast he had been carried on. He was unceremoniously dumped on the ground, where he curled up, feet hobbled, hands bound. Someone in the robes of a Zen monk sat next to him, straw hat drawn over his face.

"I'm Matsuo. They've put me in charge of you," the monk said.

"I remember..I was fighting with you," Saicho said. He put his hands up to his head, felt the bandage. His head throbbed.

"This is true. Since I saved your life, Sesshoumaru-sama has decided to make me responsible for you. He's not very happy with your presence here," Matsuo took off his hat, rubbed his head. "Now we have to decide what to do with you."

"You...you're youkai," Saicho said.

"Yes. Nearly everybody here is," Matsuo replied, shifting a bit as he reached out for his water bottle.

"Why are you wearing monk's robes?"

"I do because I follow the way of Buddha, Thus, you are still alive." Matsuo opened his bottle, took a drink, and offered it to Saicho. Saicho turned his head away, refusing the offer even as he felt the throbbing in his head go up another notch.

"Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Nama Amida Butsu," Saicho murmured. "Since when are Youki followers of the way?"

"Ah...but are we not sentient beings? Don't we experience Dukka? Remember this from the Lotus Sutra: 'If they must be saved by someone in the body of a heavenly dragon, yaksha, gandharva, asura, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga, human, or nonhuman, and so forth, he will manifest in such a body and speak Dharma for them.'"

"Begone, demon!" the human monk said.

Matsuo sighed. "I don't think so."

------------------------------------------------------------

."Well, we can call this a campsite," Kagome said, laying out her bedroll for the night, passing the pack to InuYasha. "But it surely looks like we're three groups sharing the same clearing."

"As tense as Sesshoumaru was this afternoon, I really don't mind him and Jaken staying in their corner," InuYasha said. He began to remove the cooking gear and passed her the tea kettle.

"I thought he was going to attack Teijo earlier. Maybe it's a good thing we're in between," she said, feeding the small fire she had started with bits of wood until it started catching the larger pieces. "Hand me the water, InuYasha, and I'll put on the kettle."

He passed the water bucket over to her, leaned back against a large stone eimbedded there and sighed. "I wasn't sure he wasn't. I wish I knew what the fuck was going on."

Teijo and Matsuo had set up as far as possible from Sesshoumaru. They watched as Matsuo went and grabbed the monk off of Ah-Uhn's back, and plopped him on the ground.

"He doesn't seem too happy to be here," InuYasha said.

"Well, duh!" said Kagome. "I don't blame him. Waking up after being unconscious and jostled all day on that dragonet's back, and then getting hammered by Sesshoumaru's youki can't be a fun thing."

The kitsune, looking tired, moved up and sat with them. "I feel like I'm caught in between the jaws of a vise," Hakuzo said..

"Or between Toutousai's hammer and anvil," InuYasha said.

"At least then, you'd be getting beat into something useful, " Hakuzo said.

As Kagome prepared some tea, she looked up at the kitsune, and asked, "What is this between them?" She handed him a teacup.

"I damn well want to know before they really do go for each other's throat," InuYasha said.

Hakuzo took a sip of the tea. "The story's long, It goes back to before you were born, InuYasha-san. But the short version is this: They used to be close. Teijo was Sesshoumaru's arms instructor. But then he took some sort of religious vow, and left the castle to go to Riverstone monastery. Sesshoumaru resents Teijo's religious vows. He wanted him there after the death of his father, and Teijo wouldn't come and back him. He has never forgiven him for that. "

"Teijo's not a monk," InuYasha said.

"You're right, " he said.


	20. Rice Time

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 20: Rice Time

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Always working alone, always walking alone,

The enlightened one walks the free way of Nirvana

With melody that is old and clear in spirit

And naturally elegant in style,

But with body that is tough and bony,

Passing unnoticed in the world.

--The Shodoka

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The rat trailed ahead, sniffing as it meandered. They were walking through a forest of pine trees, filled with the sweet scent of pine and deep shadows. Brown needles crunched under his feet as he moved further along the trail. The trail was going uphill. He could hear the sound of running water.

"She always did like this place," he muttered, although I never understood quite why."

He plopped himself down on a large rock, looked down the trail to see how far he had climbed, happy to feel the warmth of the late afternoon sun on his face. The rat noticed him sitting, came up and nuzzled his leg.

'"Hungry, friend? Let me see what we've got today."

Opening his bag, he took out a rice ball, and gave a large part of it to the rodent, who ate it happily. Off in the distance, he began to hear the soft sounds of the biwa playing, melodic and melancholy, and then came the the soft touch of her aura as it drifted out as soft and as lovely as the sweet notes of her music.

"Ignore the darkness," came a gentle voice singing.

"Ignore the darkness

that keeps us apart, my love,

ignore the shadow --

let no curtain hide,

let no barrier divide

the way of your feet to me."

"Ah, friend Nezumi, I do believe that the lovely lady wants to see us," he said. Opening a silver flask, Daikokutan took a long drink, then stood up, reshouldering his large white bag. "Are you refreshed? Ready?"

The rat nodded and they began to walk.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Kagome smiling shyly, brought over bowls of rice porridge to where Matsuo and the monk were sitting.

"I am sorry I do not have any suitable soup," she said. "All we have is some rabbit stew, but I thought the rice would be good."

Matsuo gracefully took the bowls from her hand hands. "Thank you, Kagome-sama. It was very kind of you."

"Kagome-sama!" said Rin, following behind her. "Lord Sesshoumaru sent me to ask if you would have some soup for me?"

Kagome took the little girl's hand. "Of course, Rin. And rice, too"

They walked back to where InuYasha sat watching the stewpot, a flash of red near the middle of the camp. Rin happily chattered about a particularly large butterfly she had just seen as they walked away.

"Hmf," said Saicho. He sat there, unmoving, eyes scowling, kneeling on the ground. His bound hands lay in his lap, a bandage still wrapped around his head. "You take food from a woman like that?"

"Like what?" Matsuo asked as he made preparations to eat, taking out some small dishes and chopsticks, laying them carefully on a black cloth.

"She is partner to that...hanyou."

"Yes. He is her husband, by youkai and human custom," Matsuo replied, looking carefully at the man sitting next to him.

Saicho spit. "Youkai don't marry. She is unclean."

"You do not know much, monk," Matsuo said, sighing. "There is nothing unclean about Kagome. She has strong spiritual powers and knows much about healing. It was she who dressed your wounds before you woke up. Do not talk like that in the presence of her husband. He takes her honor seriously."

Saicho said nothing, but continued to look across the campsite. Both Teijo and Sesshoumaru had left.

Matsuo took a small plate, dishing out some of the rice. Taking a small cup, he poured some water. Putting it to the side, he gasshoed and chanted:

"Oh, all you hungry ghosts

We now offer this food to you;

May all of you everywhere

Share it with us together.

"The first portion is for the Three Treasures,

The second is for the Four Blessings

The third is for the Six Paths.

The first taste is to cut off all evil

The second is to practice all good,

The third is to save all beingsl

May we all attain the Way of the Buddha."

He placed one of the bowls before Saicho.

"We venerate the Three Treasures and are thankful for this meal, the work of many people," he said.

Saicho stared down at his bowl, unmoving. "I am not impressed with your show of piety, Youkai."

"You are free to eat or not eat," Matsuo said, sighing. He reached around the other man's back, removing an ofuda he had placed there. "I am free to offer. I won't untie your hands or feet, but for the moment, I will give you freedom to move to eat."

Matsuo picked up his rice bowl and began to eat, as he watched Saicho stand up slowly and begin to stretch. The next thing he knew there was a bowl of rice in his face, and he felt the impact of his own staff against his head.

-----------------------------------------------------

Miroku stared at Shippou and the white shape in front of him

"Tsukikage, eh?" Miroku said.

"Yeah," said Shippou. He sat down next to the fox and hugged her around the neck.

Sango walked up behind Miroku. "Shippou, why did you walk off?"

"Tsukikage was trying to get my attention. You all were so focused on finding Koku that you didn't even see her," Shippou said.

"Oh my," Sango said, looking at the fox. The fox tilted her head, looking her in the eye. "It's not like we can talk to foxes like you do, Shippou. I mean, that's a kitsune thing."

"Oh, that's right. I forgot," said Shippou.

Tsukikage walked around Shippou, sat down on her haunches, and stared intently into Miroku's violet eyes.

"Tsukikage-sama, why do you look so familiar to me?" Miroku asked. "They say that white foxes are either a sign of calamity or a messenger from the kami. Which one are you, pretty lady?"

"Don't you say bad things about her," said Shippou, his eyes flashing angrily at Miroku. "She's a spirit fox! Can't you feel her aura?"

"The only ki I feel right now it that of a naughty kitsune who ate my last rice cake last night," Miroku said.

"Uh..." said Shippou. "But she's still nice! Don't you say anything mean!"

"She's going to take us to Koku," said Kohaku, walking up to join them. "Didn't you hear what she just said?"

--------------------------------------------

Saicho dashed into the forest, clutching the staff in one hand, and the small sharp blade that he had cut the hobbling rope on his feet with. He had been amazed to find that it had been overlooked when they had taken his weapons, but it felt like a present from the Kami, and he wasn't about to miss the chance. He knew he only had a little opportunity to get away with nothing to mask his scent or hide his tracks, and he could hear noises behind him, but still he ran.

The trees here were mostly pines, and the air was filled with the smell of their resin, and he kept to them, hoping that the fragrance might at least make it harder for them to scent him. He was headed downslope, looking for a stream, something to give him an edge, when suddenly, a gray and silver shadow dropped in front of him.

"Greetings, Sohei," said Teijo.

The monk held the staff carefully, automatically positioning his hands into the most stable grip, moving into a ready posture, the staff held in a chudan level pointing at Teijo. The ground he stood on was sloped slightly, and strewn with rock and broken branches, not the place he would have preferred to fight an enemy like this youkai swordmaster, but the staff felt good in his hands.

Teijo unsheathed his sword. "I will not let you find your martyrdom, Sohei," he said.

Sachio could feel the tingling at the back of his neck that signaled the rise of youki. "Namu Amida Butsu," he whispered.

Teijo began to execute a shomen-uchi, raising his sword up in preparation for the downstroke, and Sachio replied with a foward lunge towards his throat, which with lightning speed, and perhaps his ki, Teijo avoided, easily missing the followup hit to the ribs. They sparred this way two or three times, when suddenly, the youkai smiled, grabbed the staff and pulled it out of the sohei's hands, knocked the human onto his feet, and placed the butt of the staff on his throat.

"You come from Kagu," he said to the prone man. "Does Master Genno still terrify the young students?"

"Not as much as he used to. He was getting too frail for that, the last time I left," Saicho said. His eyes grew wide. "How did..."

Teijo sheathed his sword. "Your style. I studied with him, a long, long time ago. It'll be a sad day when he can no longer terrify a class of students."

He yanked the monk up to his feet. "You will not run away again, or I will let Sesshoumaru have you. You will not like that. Amida has sent you here to learn. Keep your eye, your heart, and your mind alert. Stay with Matsuo. Otherwise, you will die with unfulfilled destiny, and I will have to go back to Kagu and report to your teachers what type of student they released."


	21. Fox Talk

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil In Men's Hearts

Chapter 21: Fox Talk

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I regard the true nature of the many dharmas,

I find them all to be sacred forms

of the Tathagata's never-failing essence.

Each particle of matter, each moment,

is no other than the Tathagata's inexpressible radiance.

With this realization,

our virtuous ancestors gave tender care

to beasts and birds with compassionate minds and hearts.

Among us, in our own daily lives,

who is not reverently grateful for the protections of life:

food, drink, and clothing!

Though they are inanimate things,

they are nonetheless the warm flesh and blood,

the merciful incarnations of Buddha.

All the more, we can be especially

sympathetic and affectionate with foolish people,

particularly with someone who becomes a sworn enemy

and persecutes us with abusive language.

That very abuse conveys the Buddha's boundless loving-kindness.

---TOREI ZENJI

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a flash of red in front of them as Saicho and Teijo headed back to the campsite. InuYasha stopped, stepped to the side as Teijo walked holding onto the sohei.

"Ah, I see you found what I came looking for, Uncle," InuYasha said, crossing his arms across his chest. "He threw a rice bowl at Matsuo, then knocked him with his own staff. Kagome is taking care of Matsuo."

The youkai nodded as he guided the monk past his nephew. "We are returning. I'll check on Matsuo once I get this person secured."

As the two were nearly past the hanyou, who was looking at them with a badly concealed irritation, Sachio turned and faced InuYasha.

"Hanyou filth," he whispered.

InuYasha's eyes flared and his ear twitched, but he said nothing. Teijo stopped, swerved the human to face him.

"You will not find your martyrdom that way, Monk," Teijo said, taking him by the throat. "My nephew will not kill you. But I will remember this when the time comes. Nothing my brother or his honorable wife produced was filth."

InuYasha turned, still saying nothing, and went back to the camp.

Teijo released Sachio's neck. "Have you heard of Naraku?" he asked. The monk nodded.

"InuYasha fought long and hard against that evil. He has stood up to monsters that would give you nightmares for a lifetime, so you and other ningen would even have a chance to live. If it had been up to Naraku there would be nothing for all you Sohei to bicker about,." Teijo said. "Do not use him as a tool in your frustration. I need him even more than I need you."

--------------------------------------------------

Jomei watched the fox come into the house, and sit next to him. "You..." he said. The fox nodded.

"You have met Yuki, I see," said Tama. "Or perhaps her sister, Tsukikage."

"There are two of them?" he said.

"Oh yes," said Tama, sitting down by her loom. "They stop by here from time to time and tell me their news." She began weaving. Jomei found the rhythmic clicking of the beater to be relaxing.

You have seen us both, said a voice in his head.

Jomei shook his head, trying to clear it. "Did you say something, Tama-san?"

"No, that wasn't me, Houshi-sama."

No, it was me, the voice said again.

The fox crossed her arms in front of her, and looked up at the monk.

Would you sing something, Tama-chan? I love when you sing. It reminds me of my lady's songs.

"You are too sweet, Yuki. I could never sing as well as she does."

Jomei shook his head again. It dawned on him finally whose voice he was hearing. "How can this be?" he whispered. He fingered his rosary.

Tama continued weaving, working her loom, and began singing to the rhythm.

"The foxes dance beneath the moon,

an August moon, a harvest moon,

Winter will be coming soon,

snow and wind and sleet.

"The foxes dance the long, long night,

A shining night, a magic night,

Courtship blooms by pale moonlight

by nose and nip and sigh.

"Inari smiles while foxes dance,

laughing dance, happy dance,

Kami blessing while foxes prance,

tail and ear and paw."

I like that one, said Yuki.

Silence reigned for several minutes. Jomei began to silently whisper the nembutsu.

The fox sighed. Now, I will tell a story, she began. Once there was a man who was particularly devoted to the Boddhisatva Kannon...

----------------------------------------------------------

Kagome looked up to watch a stern faced InuYasha walk into the clearing.

Matsuo, sitting on the ground with a wet cloth over his bruised head, looked up. His previously well organized corner of the clearing was now a jumble of spilled rice, scattered dishes, bandages and medical supplies. Kagome was packing her medical supplies back in their bag. Rice was scattered over the ground, Matsuo's bedroll, and a few grains still stuck to his clothes. One small bird flittered on the edge of the spill, dodging in to pick at the rice, darting off when someone moved. Rin squatted down, unmoving, watching the bird.

"That was quick," Kagome muttered. She was amazed how much InuYasha looked like his brother with his face frozen into a look of controlled anger Brushing away some rice, he sat down beside her and sighed, his mask slipping, yet still withdrawn and scowling. He crossed his arms in front of him, hiding his hands in his sleeves.

"You are back sooner than I expected," she said. "What happened to the --"

"Teijo found him. He'll be back here in a little bit."

Kagome sighed. Something had happened. She took the cloth from Matsuo' s head, and dipped it back in the water, replaced it. "You need to keep refreshing the cool water. It will help with the bruising and the headache," she told him. "And be sure to drink the tea I made you."

Matsuo picked up the cup, took a sip, made a face, shook.

"Tastes good, eh?" she said. "Yeah, I know. It's very bitter. But it will help with the bruising and the pain." Kagome looked back at InuYasha, who was still staring angrily into space. "

Teijo stepped into the clearing, shoving Saicho slightly in front of him. InuYasha turned, looked hard at them, then stood up.

"Kagome, come on," he said.

She looked up from where she was sitting next to Matsuo. "What is it, InuYasha?"

"Just come on," He tugged on her arm, and pulled her up. "Let's go."

"Where?" she said, grabbing her bag.

He kneeled down, and she got on his back. "What's wrong, Anata?" She could feel the agitation in his youki, had felt it ever since he returned from looking for the monk. He stood up, not saying anything, but began running.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsukikage stared up into Mirkoku's eyes. The fox's eyes were warm, calm, and very deep.

You have heard me whisper to you in the dark of the night, Monk. a voice whispered into his head. Have you decided to help me?

Miroku looked around him, glancing at the others. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" said Sango, showing her unease as she gripped the leather straps of her weapon tighter. Kirara, sitting on Sango's shoulder seemed unbothered.

Shippou grinned. "She's been talking to you at night, Miroku. I don't think she knows what a hentai you are." The little kitsune rested his hand on the white fox's head.

Miroku looked over his shoulder. "You can hear her too, Kohaku?"

The teenager nodded, unbothered by the situation.

"What are all you talking about," Sango said. "Who's talking?"

"Tsukikage," said Shippou.

"You can hear her?" Sango asked, looking at Miroku, then Kohaku.

They nodded.

"I knew you could understand foxes, Shippou, but I didn't realize she was speaking things that humans would understand," said Miroku. "But why doesn't Sango hear her?"

The fox walked up, touched Sango with a paw, then yelped as she pulled it back. A sudden blue light shimmered, and gave off sparks as the fox withdrew. She sat down on her haunches and licked a paw.

Someone doesn't want me talking to Sango, Tsukikage said. They've put a barrier up against me.

"What?" said Sango.

"Someone's blocked you from hearing her," Shippou said. "There's a barrier around you."

Someone's coming, said the fox, still licking her paw.

Miroku stood up, looked around, holding his staff carefully. Shippou looked up, sniffing.

"Well," said a familiar voice. "What brings you here? You're a long way from the Slayer's village."

They turned around, saw a shimmer of silver hair and the familar red clothing. A small black haired woman peaked out from behind his back.

"Kagome! " Shippou shouted.


	22. Stories

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 22: Stories

--------------------------------------------------------

The past is already past.

Don't try to regain it.

The present does not stay.

Don't try to touch it.

From moment to moment.

The future has not come;

Don't think about it beforehand.

Whatever comes to the eye,

Leave it be.

There are no commandments to be kept;

There's no filth to be cleansed.

With empty mind really penetrated,

The dharmas have no life.

When you can be like this,

You've completed the ultimate attainment.

P'ang Yün

--------------------------------------------

The air smelt sweetly of jasmine and water. Nezumi meandered down the trail, ignoring Daikokuten as he found a comfortable seat in the tumble of rocks Before him, a pool of water spread out, rippling with the wind. Near the edges, where the water was stiller, lotus grew. At the far end, a small trickle of water cascaded down the rock face from some secret spring in the cliff behind it.

Beneath the deep late-afternoon shadows of overhanging maples and pine came the sweet sound of a biwa playing, plaintive, sad and longingly. The music faded into silence. Two women left the shadows, one dressed all in white, a finely worked gown with silver blossoms worked into the design, graced with a fine blue obi. She stood there graceful and regal, with shining ebony hair that fell in a cascade nearly to the ground Her companion was smaller, obviously Youkai with the fine pointed ears and auburn hair common to Kitsunes. She was dressed in dark blood red.

"Daikokuten, welcome," said the woman in white. As the light dimmed with the growing twilight, she seemed to glow with a certain inner light. "Please convey my apologies to Nezumi. Both Yuki and Tsukikage are busy on errands right now and he will not be able to play with them."

Daikokuten's eyes twinkled. "Ah, poor rat. He always so enjoys tormenting your foxes, Benzaiten."

She smiled, laughter in her black eyes. "One day, they will catch him, Koku. Then what will you do?"

The Kitsune woman rolled out a fine blue cloth, then helped Benzaiten kneel, fanning out her kimono skirts gracefully, sitting near at hand. Benzaiten gestured for Daikokutan to join her. He left his perch on the rocks. Nezumi finally caught up to him, ran up to his shoulder.

"I checked the wards around the entire valley, Benzaiten. You're right, they are degenerating. It won't be long until they fail," he said. "I did what I could, but there is little to do but be prepared for the worst."

"This Kukai foretold," said the kitsune.

"Yes, Nyoko," said Benzaiten. She took her biwa from Nyoko's hand. "You wrought, he wrought, and now we reap." She began to play and sing:

"Sakura blossoms

drifting over open fields

beneath the high wall,

caught on a spring breeze that yields

to the castle tall --

The guardians kept their watch.

"Once the moonlight watched,

shining brightly in the night

above the high wall

as they gathered by torchlight

In the castle tall

drinking sake unaware.

"Cold the wind that blew,

broken-hearted winter wind

over the high wall --

wild geese crying of the end

to the castle tall,

death singing in full moon light.

"Shadow did not hide

sword work flashing in moonlight

behind the high wall--

red blood flowing at midnight

in the castle tall,

guardians died unknowing.

"Ruins reaching up

forgotten now is the place

where stood the high wall

long forgotten is the face

of the castle tall--

a lost heap of broken dreams.

"No breath of grieving

is spoken by the pine trees

where stood the high wall,

curse binds human memories

of the castle tall --

curse echos through time to kill."

She sighed, as the last note died. Tears glistened in Nyoko's eyes. The kami, smiling softly reached out and touched the Kitsune woman's hand. "Kukai did what he could. We will do what we can."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rin sat by the fire, resting her head on her knees, sitting near Kagome's cooking fire. The afternoon was giving way into evening, and the shadows around the camp had grown long and deep. It was quite quiet for the moment. Jaken was taking Ah-Uhn out to pasture. Matsuo was meditating near a sealed Saicho.

Hakuzo came and sat down next to her. Across the campsite, Teijo quietly worked through a kata with a bo in his hand. The staff moved effortlessly. Rin watched how beautifully he moved, and remembered her own practicing with a staff, and then sighed.

"Rin wishes Sesshoumaru-sama would return."

Hakuzo built up the fire, throwing a few pieces of wood on it and poured water into Kagome's tea kettle. "I'm sure he will as soon as he is finished with whatever he went off to do, Rin," said the Kitsune. "I wonder where InuYasha and Kagome went?"

"InuYasha took her off somewhere on his back," Rin said. "Kagome-sama left some of her things. Rin thinks they will be back."

Once he decided the fire was hot enough, he put the kettle back on the fire. "I hope so. Otherwise, I'll have to search for her to give her this tea kettle back. And it's a nice one.

It grew quiet again as he waited for the water to heat. Teijo finished his exercise, looked at Matsuo, and began to walk their way. "Hhm," Hakuzo said, staring at the kettle. "Would you like me to tell a story?"

"Yes, please," she said.

"A long time ago," he said, "There was an old tea kettle used at a temple. It had been used for a long time, and nobody ever noticed anything remarkable about it. It was plain, with no decoration. But one day, nobody knows why, when the priest was about to hang it over the fire to boil the water for his tea, something amazing happened."

He searched through his bag for his tea makings.

"Suddenly, the kettle grew a tail and a head. It sprouted fur. It grew four paws It had become a tea kettle Tanuki! It started dancing, and running around the room."

Teijo took a seat near Hakuzo, smiling a little in recognition. He laid his bo in front of him in a respectful position. "Do tell, Hakuzo."

"The priest, never ever expecting something like this to happen, started saying the Nembutso and called in all his pupils there to see this amazing thing. While they were staring and wondering what to do, the kettle jumped into the air and began flying around the room, just like Ah-Uhn does. 'What have we done to deserve something like this?' the priest said. Just knowing it had to be an evil thing, the priest and his pupils tried to pursue it, but it was very hard to do."

Hakuzo measured tea into cups. "At last, however, they managed to knock it down from where it was flying by having the youngest novice jump on top of it, and then they all piled on. With everybody holding it down, they forced it into a box, intending to carry it off and throw it away far from the temple, because they didn't want something like a youkai tea kettle in the temple.

"The priest, a thrifty man who really didn't like to waste anything, though, got an idea and decided to sell the kettle so at least the temple would have something for the loss of their kettle. He sold it to a tinker who was passing through.

"But that night, as the tinker was sleeping, he heard a strange noise near his pillow. Jumping out of bed, he saw the kettle he had gotten from the temple moving. As he watched, it grew covered with fur, sprouted a tanuki head and tail and walked about on four legs. The tinker, at first frightened, kept watching, but all of a sudden the kettle resumed its former shape. This happened over and over again. Shaken, he never did get back to sleep.

The water in Hakuzo's kettle was steaming, and he poured it into three teacups, then handed one each to Rin and Teijo. "The tinker, bleary eyed and frightened, showed the kettle to a friend of his, who said, 'This is certainly an accomplished and lucky tea kettle. You should show it around the country, with songs and music, and make it dance and walk on the tight rope.'

"The tinker thought about this for awhile. The kettle had done nothing to hurt him, and actually seemed at ease in his company. After awhile, he decided to do just what his friend suggested. Pretty soon, word about the marvelous tanuki kettle spread everywhere, until even the daimyos and nobles sent to order the tinker to come to them; and he grew rich beyond all his expectations. Even the great ladies of the court took great delight in the dancing kettle, so that no sooner had it shown its tricks in one place than it was time for them to keep some other engagement. At last the tinker grew so rich he decided to retire, and in thanks, he took the kettle back to the temple as an offering of something precious.

"The funny thing is, once they thought it was too evil to keep at a temple. Later, they worshipped it like it was a kami."

Rin giggled. Teijo turned his head towards the woods. "You feel that?" he asked, feeling a strong surge of youki.

Hakuzo looked up. "Someone's coming, I think. Feels like --"

A white clad figure walked into the campsite."Sesshoumaru-sama!" said Rin, jumping up to run to the Inu youkai. She stopped in front of him and looked up into his golden eyes.

"You remain well, Rin?" said the daiyoukai, his face as calmly neutral as usual. The other two youkai stood up.

"Rin is well and Kagome-sama gave me rabbit stew and rice for dinner, and it was very good. Hakuzo told me a story. Rin is glad you are back."

"Good, Rin." He looked at Hakuzo. "Where are my brother and the miko?"

Hakuzo shrugged.

"The human by Matsuo tried to leave. InuYasha-sama went to help, and when he came back, he took Kagome-sama and left." said Rin.

"I didn't see it," said Hakuzo. "Teijo knows more, I believe."

"This Sesshoumaru suspects you know more about many things, Uncle," he said.

"The sohei said rude things. He has been reprimanded."

"Answer me this, then, Uncle. Tell me why I cannot return the way I came. I searched for a way for hours. The paths simply...disappear."

"There's a kami involved." Teijo said calmly, crossing his gray clad arms in front of him. "I don't think the kami will let us go until they are ready."


	23. Noting the Tempo

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 23 Noting the Tempo

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Whether it be dance,

or whether it be a song,

the tempo controls,

allowing the performance,

the rhythm controlling all.

And so with fighting,

feel the rhythm in conflict,

the way his sword moves,

the way his mind carries on,

the song and dance of combat.

As you see his way,

know his moves and manners well,

the way becomes free

the door will open widely

and you will see how to move.

--adapted from the Killing Sword, by Yagyu Munenori

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Teijo smiled softly, yet took a deep breath. The shadows of the evening added a definition to his face which was both pleasant but brought out the youkai markers on his face. He looked like an kindly, otherworldly sage, standing there looking at his nephew.

"There's a kami involved," said Sesshoumaru. The gathering shadows seemed to heighten the clear power and threat of the TaiYoukai. Sesshoumaru's pale emotionless face went from cool to cold, the shadows deeping his eyes and helping them to glitter. The contrast with shadow made his lightness of his skin even more pallid, although his crests seemed to intensify in color. There was a ghostly aura surrounding him, just visible. Rin and Hakuzo stepped back at the tingle of youki rising sharply and quickly.

"You knew?" he said. The youki wind blew lightly about him, letting the long hair draping down towards his knees stir in the unnatural breeze.

"Not before it happened, Nephew. You think the kami keep me in their confidence?" Teijo stood his ground, his bangs moving lightly as his youki rose to match his nephew's in a controlled defensive response. His eyes, though, stayed calm, his stance non-threatening, his look patient.

"This Sesshoumaru knows that Teijo does not keep his family in his confidence," Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed in threat, and the amber flared with red, as his body hardened into a dominant challenge posture. "Nor in his priorities."

Teijo stood there quietly, with one hand on the hilt of his sword, the sword slightly open in the ready position, a fact not totally lost on the enraged youkai. "Rinji has long been a cursed place, cursed before you or I were born. Even you knew that strange things happen here. I know you blame me for not standing by my brother and you in your times of need. But this time, I was standing with you."

"Standing by or leading me on? This time with all I honor by the name of family?" The tips of Sesshoumaru's fingers glowed with a bright green light. "Tell me, _Uncle_," he said, nearly spitting out the word, "how did you know a kami was involved?"

"She told me."

Hakuzo grabbed the girl by her arm. "Go stand by Jaken and Ah-Uhn, Rin."

She nodded and went off to join the small green youkai. Hakuzo circled around to the place where Matsuo lay down, nudged him up. "Teijo and Sesshoumaru," he whispered. "Don't take sides."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jomei listened to the soft voice of the fox that filled his head with bright images.

Once there was a man who was particularly devoted to the Boddhisatva Kannon. One day as he was walking to the temple he saw a strange procession moving out in front of him...

He closed his eyes and her words washed over him until he found himself in a dreamlike state, seeing what she whispered. Her words faded and the images grew much stronger. He opened his eyes and found himself looking down at the ground, watching a road pass by his feet as he walked in the light of a very bright full moon. Instead of the robes of a monk, he found himself in the garments of a poor farmer, robed in dark hempen linen, rubbing his skin. The road was deserted and passing through heavy forest, filled with the ghostly branches of winter trees. His steps sounded loudly in his ears as he kept walking. Looking up, he could see a small stone bridge, like a dark shape highlighted in silver, on the road ahead of him.

Suddenly, as he grew closer to the bridge, he could hear the sound of many feet walking at a fast pace, like that of a noble's escort, right behind him. He turned and saw torches bobbing in the night, and to avoid them, he ducked under the shelter of the bridge, standing closely to the stonework. Looking up, he realized quickly from the shapes outlined, that this was no procession of a noble or a daimyo, but it was an assembly of youkai, escorting some great youkai noble. He could make out fierce oni with their horns, clasping naginata. There were other creatures too, and between their shapes in the moonlight and the great cloud of youki they raised in their passing, he found himself quaking in fright.

"Kannon!" he called out to Kannon, in a voice just above a whisper. "At dawn my thoughts are on Kannon! At night my thoughts are on Kannon! Bodhisattva of mercy, help me!"

The procession of Youkai was nearly past, when suddenly it came to a halt. As he tried to melt further into the cold stonework of the bridge, he could feel hard hands grab him and pull him up to the road, and then push him once again into a kneeling position. His breath was ragged and his heart beat loudly in his ears, masking the soft footsteps that came and stopped right in front of him.

"Enough!" said a soft woman's voice, causing the harsh hands holding him prostrate to leave.

He looked up, slowly and carefully, to see a beautiful woman standing there. She was dressed in splendid pale robes embroidered with many flowers. Her hair was bright silver, reflectling the moonlight in a soft shimmer. Her eyes glowed in the darkness, an eerie red light that made his gave him shivers as they began to delve into his eyes. She looked at him intently for several minutes, and it felt to him as if she could peer inside his heart and mind.

"Once, my son," she said, "There were ten rasetsus, women you would call bakemono, youkai, oni, ugly. They presented themselves to the Buddha and said in unison "World Honored One, we, too, wish to protect those who read, recite, receive the Lotus Sutra and keep them from harm."

He looked at her, waiting and wondering.

"How, do you think, the World Honored One replied?" she asked.

"I do not know, Noble One," he said, trembling.

"He said, smiling, 'Good indeed!' she answered. "Will you say good with him, and lend us your help?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shippou turned in a red streak heading for Kagome. "Oh, I missed you!" he cried as he leaped into her arms.

She caught the small kitsune in her arms with a practiced skill. "Oooh, you're getting big, Shippou! I've missed you, too!" she said as he hugged her around the neck. She looked up to the welcoming faces of Miroku and Sango. "What a wonderful surprise! You don't know how glad I am to see all of you, " she said.

InuYasha looked over at the kitsune, with a smirky smile. "Oi, Runt! Did you behave for Kaede?" he asked.

He nodded. "I helped her weed the garden, and she sent me off to gather herbs, too. She let me help, sometimes. But she let me go out and play a lot."

InuYasha and Kagome exchanged knowing glances at that last bit.

"Kohaku showed me how to use a staff," Shippou said, "And I showed him how to catch fish."

Kohaku looked at the two shyly. "I taught him an easy Kata. He learned it fast. Much faster than I learned to catch fish by hand," he said.

Kagome smiled at him. "That was very nice of you, Kohaku, " she said. "But what I would like to know is how did you get out here. Miroku? Sango? I thought you were going to go to the Exterminator's village."

"Well, that's a long story, Kagome. We were getting ready to head out when..." Miroku began.

Tsukikage laid flat, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Tell us on the way." InuYasha said.

"On the way where?" Sango asked.

"To our camp. If you had walked another half hour, you would have found us." InuYasha replied.


	24. Water from a Kami's Hand

Disclaimer: I do not own InYasha nor any character created by Rumiko Takahashi

Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 24: Water in a Kami's Hands

----------------------------------------------------

A tenth of an inch's difference,

And heaven and earth are set apart;

If you wish to see it before your own eyes,

Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.

To set up what you like against what you dislike--

This is the disease of the mind:

When the deep meaning of the Way is not understood

Peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose.

The Way is perfect like unto vast space,

With nothing wanting, nothing superfluous:

It is indeed due to making choice

That its suchness is lost sight of.

Pursue not the outer entanglements,

Dwell not in the inner void;

Be serene in the oneness of things,

And dualism vanishes by itself.

---SHINJIN-NO-MEI

---------------------------------------------------

The gathering twilight cast long shadows over the small circle of friends.

"We were getting ready to head out when this man named Koku met us by Kaede's village," Miroku began, leaning against his staff. "He told us of a demon problem in his village, and wanted us to come and deal with it. Last night, he told us we'd make his village today, but this morning, Koku disappeared."

"We spent most of the day looking for him, but with no luck," Sango said with a sigh. "I'm not an expert tracker, but I usually can find some sign. Nothing." She shifted her boomerang on her shoulder.

InuYasha looked puzzled. "There's no village near here," he said.

"You mean there's no village called Rinji?" Miroku asked.

"The whole valley's called Rinji," InuYasha replied. "Never heard of a village here. Everybody near here avoids it like the plague. In fact, most people say this area's cursed. Strange things happen, people come in and never leave, or talk about meeting odd things. It's just not a place people come to."

"Then why would Koku have lead us here? He was nice, and told me stories," said Shippou.

"It is strange," said Miroku. "He had a pleasant aura."

The group fell silent.

"So," Miroku said after a few minutes. "What have you been doing? Did you meet up with Sesshoumaru?"

"Yeah," said InuYasha. "We've been tracking Jomei, the guy who seems to be the leader of the sect that attacked us. They've been infiltrating the Western Lands under my brother's nose. Evidently, they had a plan to attack and capture Rin. You can imagine how that set with Sesshoumaru. Jomei seems to have gotten to the valley here. We've run into some of his other followers near here, too."

"Is Rin okay?" asked Kohaku, who had looked up at the mention of the girl's name.

"Yes, she's doing well," said Kagome. "She's with Sesshoumaru and the others back at camp." Turning to Shippou, she said, "We met a Kitsune called Hakuzo. He had a run-in with Jomei, but we helped him out."

"Am I going to meet him? " Shippou asked.

"Certainly. He knows a lot, too. He's been a sensei a long time. I think you'll like him."

"So what should we do now?" Sango asked.

"Maybe we should all go back to camp." Kagome suggested. "I left most of my things there, and I see we have a lot of catching up to do."

"That's not a bad idea," InuYasha said. "And I'm sure Kagome would like to have someone human to talk to besides Rin."

"InuYasha!" Kagome said.

"Well it's true, isn't it?"

She sighed. "There is something about your brother and uncle..."

"Uh, InuYasha?" Shippou interrupted from where he perched from Kagome's shoulder. "Before we go, there's someone here you need to meet."

InuYasha looked around, and didn't see anyone. "Who, Runt?"

Shippou pointed to the fox. She looked up at InuYasha, amber eyes meeting amber eyes.

Greetings, InuYasha-sama, the fox said. "Greetings, Miko."

"Her name is Tsukikage," said Miroku. "We're not sure exactly why she's here. She seems to be able to talk to everybody but Sango."

'Inari, are you involved in this?' InuYasha thought.

My lady has asked me to stay with your group, the fox said. I will be going with you.

InuYasha shoved his hands into his sleeves. "And who is your lady?" he asked.

You will meet her soon. She sends her blessing.

"Well, we could use a blessing. Let's head back before it gets too dark to see."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki' s voice droned on in Jomei's head, and he continued to see the events she was relating as if he were there, kneeling before a high ranking youkai noblewoman, surrounded by a guard of oni.

The youkai woman continued to look down on the man.

Jomei swallowed. "How...how could I, a poor peasant, help such a wonderful person as you, Noble One?" he asked, his voice wavering as he spoke.

"Ah, there is a place for all of us in the scheme of things...poor peasants, frightening rasetsu, bodhisattvas. Come. Today, there is a small child sick in bed. The healers have no way to help her. Kannon has heard her parents' frantic prayers, and have sent us. But we, who know the way to heal her, are warded against entering the house of the one we could help." The youkai noblewoman looked deeply as if she were reading his heart. "Will you carry our cure to this family?"

He looked down on the ground, his thoughts racing. What if it were a trap? Or perhaps, the youkai wanted this child dead? Looking back up at the woman, he pondered, taking a deep breath, and decided to err on the side of compassion. 'Kannon, help me!' he silently prayed, then at last, nodded. "Yes," he said in a tiny voice.

The woman made a signal with her fan. Two of her retainers, males who resembled boars, came up to him, each carrying a bowl, which they proceeded to pour over his head. His eyes grew hazy and his skin began to sting.

"Now, my peasant," said the woman. "You will find you can move freely everywhere. No human eye will be able to see you until you have completed your task. Once the sun has reached midmorning, we will send you a guide who will lead you to the place you are needed. Take this scroll with you. When the time comes, you will give it to the person who will heal the child."

He took the proffered scroll, stared at it like it might bite him, but placed it in his robe. Suddenly, the procession began to move across the bridge. When he finally dared look up, he saw nothing, no sign they had ever been there. But putting his hand back in his robe, he found the scroll where he had placed it.

"At dawn, my thoughts are on Kannon," he muttered." At night my thoughts are on Kannon! Bodhisattva of mercy, help me!"

Running across the bridge, he found a clearing sheltered from the road. Finding a rock to use as a head rest, he went to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hakuzo felt Matsuo grab his sleeve.

"Sit," said the monk.

Carefully, Hakuzo dropped down next to the monk, not taking his eyes off the two Inu youkai standing in the center of the clearing, both unmoving. Matsuo began chanting the Heart Sutra quietly to himself.

"Prayer is good," said Hakuzo.

Youki swirled around the two Inu youkai, stirring their sleeves and hair. Sesshoumaru's eyes were focused in a tight narrow gaze, intense, threeatening. Teijo, although standing in readiness, tried to minimize his aggressiveness. His eyes, although missing nothing, met his nephew's in a calm, relaxed manner.

The lack of challenge in his mode did nothing. If anything, Sesshoumaru's face grew colder, his eyes redder. "A kami talked to you?"

"We are stones on her go table," Teijo replied.

"No. This Sesshoumaru is not a game piece. "

Teijo began to recite:

"Water's shape is round,

sometimes water's shape is square

the way it is held.

When the way is clear,

the water will flow freely,

all obstacles gone.

When the way is blocked,

the water will stand and pool,

becoming a lake.

Streams can move boulders,

Floodwaters move a mountain

Still pools hold the moon."

Sighing, he said, "We are water in the Kami's hands."

"No!" shouted the younger youkai. "Why didn't you tell me?" His hand grew greenly. A green line of energy whipped out, almost catching Teijo who dodged it, moving too fast to see clearly.

"I couldn't," he replied. "I will not give you my life, Sesshoumaru. My work is not finished."

Again, Sesshoumaru reached out with the green energy whip. Again, Teijo dodged it with incredible speed.

"You are signalling, nephew. I can see when you are getting ready to whip out." Teijo said. "Where is your mind?"

"My mind is like the thousand eyes of Kannon, resting nowhere, seeing all." Sesshoumaru said.

"I see you remember your lessons," Teijo said. He unsheathed his sword, and it began to glow with an intense blue light, pooling down his arms and covering his body.

Suddenly, a white shape streaked across the clearing, turning into a column of white light. Slowly, the white light coalesed into the figure of a beautiful woman, dressed all in white, embroidered with pink blossoms. Her obi was a lovely dark pink. Her black hair glowed, and was decorated with many hair ornaments. She smiled a dazzling smile.

"Greetings, Lord Sessoumaru, Teijo. Your brother, Lord Sesshoumaru, will be here shortly. My name is Tsukikage. I bring a message from my lady."


	25. A Mix of Sentient Beings

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha nor any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 25: A Mix of Sentient Beings

------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I was alive

the woman told the lone monk,

ghostly standing there,

her hair blowing in the dark,

once, I went to pray

and chanted there to Kannon,

Kannon of the thousand eyes,

and then I did die.

Every moon since then, O monk,

every moon since then

on the same day of the month,

Kannon sends me here,

free from the darkness of hell,

free to see the sun,

Kannon sits that day for me.

O Monk! Pray for me!

Adapted from Japanese Tales, Royall Tyler

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yuki continued her tale as Jomei stared at the white fox. The next morning, the peasant found himself awake and ready to move down the road, she said, but he learned how hard it could be when no one could see you. He was nearly run down by a cart as he stopped to tie his sandal strap, and finding food was difficult when no one selling food could see you to take your order or accept your money...

Jomei found himself walking down a busy road as they neared the city. Merchants and farmers were laden, carrying their goods. He felt very hungry, but very frustrated. At last he came to some statues of Jizo with fresh offerings, and apologizing to the kindly bodhisattva, he took a rice ball just recently placed there as an offering, then eating it, hurried down the road.

Finally, tired of dodging travellers laden with baskets, pushing or pulling carts or swinging goods from yokes over their shoulders, he found a rock off the side of the road where he could sit and avoid all the dangers of trying to travel invisibly. Relaxed by the morning sun, his head began to nod as he watched the travellers walk by.

Suddenly a voice broke through his sleepiness. "Hey you!" he heard. It was a gruff voice, and at first, he ignored it. The voice called again. He opened his eyes, looked down. There was an angry looking man, red of hair and green of eye. He was dressed in rough, coarse clothing, dark red and blue, and from the looks of him, dirty. In his hand he had an ox goad. "Hey you, look at me!" the man yelled.

Jomei found himself looking side to side, looking at who the man could be yelling at. There was no one nearby.

"Who, me?" he said at last.

"No, I mean the Goddess of mercy. Of course you, dumbwit," he said, folding his arms and tapping the goad, a long piece of iron-tipped wood, on the ground.

"You can see me?"

"Yah, and you ain't no great shakes to look at either. I got oxen that look as good as you. You gotta be the guy Lady Akiko sent me to meet. You got the scroll?"

"Who are you?" Jomei found himself saying, sliding off of the rock.

"Call me Oushi," the man said. He shrugged his shoulders, tossed his head as if to loosen his neck, and scratched himself. "Well, let's go. Ain't got all day."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tsukikage, dressed in her embroidered white kimono stood between Sesshoumaru and Teijo, hiding slightly behind a white fan.

Everything suddenly was silent. There was a flair of light, like her aura touched and bounced off the combat ready youki of the two she stood between. Suddenly, the breezes that had been rising between Teijo and Sesshoumaru stopped and the air was dead still.

"What--" Sesshoumaru began, still in his readiness posture, yet suddenly relaxing, looking at the woman in front of him. Teijo lowered his sword.

"You are a fox," he said after a moment. "And yet --"

"This is true, Sesshoumaru-sama," she said, bowing her head gracefully to him.

A noise came from the far end of the camp.

"Kohaku!" Rin yelled.

"Your brother has returned," said Tsukikage. "He and his pack."

Teijo watched the small procession. InuYasha walked up to them, his hand resting on Kagome's shoulder. A young Kitsune held her hand. A happy Rin had run up to a young man who must be Kohaku, who trailed behind a woman dressed in a merchant's class kimono and a man wearing the clothes of a monk, carrying a ringed staff. The woman carried a small two tailed cat, a neko youkai of some sort. The group moved smoothly and obviously with a lot of familiarity.

Hakuzo and Matsuo by this time had come up to stand near Teijo.

"What an interesting evening this has been," said Hakuzo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jomei found himself following the man through the traffic on the busy street. As they neared others, it looked like the people they neared froze in place, and began moving again as they passed. No one seemed to notice this strange wave they made through the traffic. Oushi moaned and cursed as they wandered down the way until they came to a large house. The house was filled with people, most who seemed distressed. The same strange effect followed them in the house. As they neared anyone, that person froze until they passed, no matter what they were doing. Oushi sniffed the air as they walked around.

"The brat's this way, I think." he said, leading him upstairs. He pushed open the sliding door to one brightly lit room. "Yep, this is it."

The room had a priest praying while a distraught couple sat next to a sick child who was suffering with what looked like fever.

"Ok, now here's your chance. You go put that scroll in the hand of the priest, and he'll realize it's there and start reading it. Once he reads it, the brat'll get better, and you'll be free to do whatever it is peasant guys like you do after you tell them what happened. Be sure they know that Kannon used the Youkai Lady Akiko to do this."

Jomei found himself searching for the scroll in his robes, grabbed it, and placed it in his hand.

"That's it! See ya around and have a nice life!" said Oushi, who plucked something off his head and immediately turned into a fox and ran off. Suddenly, the people in the room began to move again. The priest looked at the scroll which appeared in his hands seemingly by magic, unrolled it, and began to read:

"'At that time there were rasetsu women.

The first was named Lamba,

the second was named Vilamba,

the third was named Crooked Teeth,

the fourth was named Flower Teeth,

the fifth was named Black Teeth,

the sixth was named Much Hair,

the seventh was named Insatiable,

the eighth was named Holder of Beads,

the ninth was named Kunti,

and the tenth was named Robber of the Essence and Energy of All Beings.

These ten rasetsu women,

feared by men,

feared by demons,

along with the ghost mother and her children and their retinues

in the presence of the Buddha spoke this vow:

"'Climb on top of our heads,

but do not trouble this soul.

No yasha, rasetsu,

hungry ghost, putana,

kritya, vetala, ghanta,

omaraka, apasmaraka,

yakshakritya, human kritya;

nor any fever lasting one day,

nor any fever lasting two days, or three days, or four days, or up to seven days;

nor any constant fever;

nor any shape of man, woman, young boy, or young girl

shall trouble him,

even in his dreams.'"

Jomei suddenly found himself back in Tama's hut and in his own body, watching Yuki curled up in front of him.

And so, after reading the prayer, the girl suddenly sat up, and all traces of her illness were gone.

After being greeted by her thankful parents, the girl suddenly saw the man who brought the scroll,

and pointed at him. 'That's the man I saw in my dreams! He's the one the Goddess of Mercy said would help me get well!' The parents, priest, and doctors questioned the man, and he recounted the strange tale of why he ended up in their house. After giving thanks to Kannon of the thousand eyes who uses even foxes and other youkai to accomplish compassion, they loaded the man up with presents and he went on his way back home. Yuki concluded.

"Fox tales," said Jomei.

"True," said Tama. "Thank you, Yuki."

Best rest well tonight, said the white fox. My lady thinks you will have company tomorrow.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, my sweet flower, you have all your pieces in play. What will you do now, sweep down on them with your dragon? Gather them together and play the biwa?" said Daikokuten, walking next to the kami. It was full sunset, and the last of the red light played with the clouds and cast long shadows into the garden where they were strolling.

The air was sweet with jasmine, and fireflies began to dance near the two. She walked gracefully across the moss touched paving stones until they at last reached a lantern. Passing her hand over the lantern, it began to glow softly. Nearby, there was the soft fall of water in the background, mixing with the soft sound of the breeze in the trees.

"I thought, perhaps, you might like to join me in a picnic near the fortress," she said softly. Turning to the woman who walked behind her, she asked, "Nyoko, are you ready to meet your brother?"

Lowering her head, the Kitsune woman whispered, "Yes."

"Atonement comes not without a price," Benzaiten said.


	26. Foxlight in the Evening

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any character created by Rumiko Takahashi

Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 26: Foxlight in the Evening

------------------------------------------------------------------------

True reality --

It begins before heaven

it predates the earth.

Truly without form,

truly that which is nameless --

shadowless, it is.

Eyes fail to see it;

voiceless, no ears can hear it.

If you call it Mind,

Or if you name it Buddha,

You violate its nature.

Trying to name it,

You mask its reality,

a vision of real,

a flower in the air --

for it cannot be named Mind,

it is not Buddha;

totally quiet,

mysterious is its way

illuminating -

the clear-eyed only perceive

Dharma beyond form and sound

Tao having no words.

Dai-o Kokushi, On Zen (adapted)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"What an interesting evening this has been," said Hakuzo.

He stood there, leaning against a tree, his arms crossed in front of him, looking at the knot of people in front of him through his calm green eyes. He saw the anger that Sesshoumaru still carried in his carriage and in the tinge of his youki, the controlled relief of Teijo as he shook out his gray clad arms, and the placid, almost unreadable waiting of the fox woman. Her hair ornaments and white kimono shimmered as it was touched redly by the central camp fire. Beyond them, InuYasha's group moved towards the center of the clearing, nearing the fire where Kagome had left her things. A youth, perhaps twelve or thirteen that Rin had named Kohaku had left the others to stand next to Sesshoumaru's girl, who was shyly telling him something. The boy watched and stood by the girl with a quiet ease that spoke of friendship and long association. InuYasha, in a flash of silver and red, brought his eyes away from Kagome and his pack mates and looked questioningly at his brother and the fox woman, no doubt sensing something of the tension in the air, while Kagome, her black hair shining in the light of the camp fire, tended to a small kitsune child.

A soft light touched Tsukikage's golden eyes as she studied Sesshoumaru. "My lady asks me to tell you that she will make all things clear to you tomorrow if you will join her, and she in turn begs a favor of you," she said softly.

"Do not look at me, Kitsune, like I was some child in need of soothing, whoever your lady is, Kami or Youkai or human." the daiyoukai said. "I do not yet understand what web this Sesshoumaru is being caught in, but I know a web when I see it. The last spider that tried to use me is dust." His face barely controlled, and his eyes still angry, he looked hard at Teijo and Tsukikage. "We will finish this later."

"But of course, Sesshoumaru-sama. This Tsukikage is here at your disposal to make the way smooth," she said, keeping her manners gracious and non-threatening, giving him a polite bow. "My Lady will supply all the answers you require." The daiyoukai turned and moved towards Rin and Kohaku.

"An interesting evening, indeed," said Teijo. "Some evenings stay interesting far too long. I would prefer not to repeat this one, between escaping prisoners, angry nephews and the games Kamis play."

"Ah, but at least yours is not the head that has paid directly, Sensei" said Matsuo, still sporting a bandage around his head from where the prisoner Saicho had cracked his head with his own staff. Matsuo looked back over to the edge of the clearing, where the bound warrior monk knelt, constrained by rope and sutra. He caught the youkai monk's eye with a harsh glare. Matsuo sighed.

"If the gracious lady had not appeared when she did," Teijo said, nodding to Tsukikage, "more than your head might have paid. My nephew is more than a little perturbed by the state of things."

Matsuo snorted as they watched Sesshoumaru rejoin Rin and accept a greeting from the young man. "I would never want to be on the receiving side of Sesshoumaru's displeasure, myself," he said, "Eh, Hakuzo?"

"No, Sesshoumaru may not be that old, but his legend goes before him," Hakuzo replied, even as he was looking carefully at the woman in white before him. Tsukikage met his eyes, nodded in his direction.

"Have you met the Lady Tsukikage before, Hakuzo?" Teijo asked. "She goes everywhere, but seldom graces us with this form," he said. "She and her sister Yuki. She also plays a wicked game of Go. Be warned."

The fox woman hid her face behind her fan, in an unexpected coy movement. "We go as our Lady bids us, Teijo-sama. Yuki is rather busy right now, entertaining another of our Lady's guests," she said. Teijo looked at her, raised an eyebrow.

"Ah," Teijo said. "That explains..."

"I do know you," Hakuzo said unexpectedly, his face lighting up with a look of surprised recognition. "I remember you, your voice, your scent... So long ago, and I was so much smaller. You were there that night when it happened..." His green eyes looked deeply at her. "Nyoko had opened the gate. We had been caught by surprise and there was fighting everywhere. You dragged me and Tama from where my father had fallen and walked us through the fire and the fighting. Without you, I would have died with my brothers. I remember the smoke and cries and the blood...and your fan."

"It has been a long time since that night, Hakuzo, son of Keiji," Tsukikage said, smiling gently. "Trees have grown and fallen along the keep walls since then."

"Many sunrises," he said. "No other night for me quite that dark."

"May you not see its like again, Hakuzo." she said.

Suddenly, all eyes focused towards the center as they heard a shrill cry from the kitsune child that Kagome had been carrying as he began to dodge InuYasha. "Kagome, save me!" the child yelled as he darted between her legs, his red tail flashing behind him..

"Not this time, Shippou-chan," she said, laughing as the two dashed around her. InuYasha lunged for the kit, but he managed to slip past him. He started to break towards the woods, but the neko kitten in the other woman's arms jumped down and transformed into a huge firecat, blocking his way. The monk beside her said, "Seems Kirara agrees with InuYasha, Shippou." The kit changed direction and began running towards Hakuzo's group. InuYasha had a giggling Kagome tugging on his sleeve to slow him down as he followed.

"Let me at the brat!" InuYasha said, as his friends doubled over, laughing. "He bit my ear! Get back here, Shippou!"

The kit, looking back over his shoulder towards the hanyou, tripped. Hakuzo picked Shippou up by the tail, raised him to eye level. "So you're the fox child Kagome told me about," he said.

"Uh..." the boy said, looking up with huge, innocent-looking eyes. "Hello?" he said, uncertainly.

"Child, is that any way to treat your alpha?" Tsukikage asked.

"Tsukikage?" he said. "You...you're beautiful!" the boy exclaimed. "I thought you were pretty as a fox. Now you look like a hime! "

She laughed softly, took the boy from Hakuzo. "So, scholar, you've heard of this wild child?"

"Oh yes. Kagome took care of me once after some crazed monk attacked me." he said, smiling. "She told me some nice things about this child. I wonder if she was mistaken."

"So, Shippou, what did you do to get InuYasha so angry with you?" the fox woman asked.

"I...I bit his ear," the boy said, looking downcast.

"And why did you do that?" she said, looking at him sternly.

"I got mad at him when he told me to stop acting like a baby and walk instead of let Kagome carry me," he said, his eyes watering. "But...but it had been so long since I saw her last! I missed her!"

She put the fox kit down, looking him in the eye. "You must apologize, Shippou-chan. He is your alpha. You must show him proper respect."

"But..but..."

"I will walk with you, little one. And you will apologize." She took his hand, and walked towards InuYasha, who managed to stand there looking stern, even as the crowd around him worked to surpress their smiles.

"InuYasha-sama," she said softly. "I believe this one belongs to you and wishes to say something to you."

Shippou stood quietly, looking down at his feet. She nudged him. The boy bowed and said, "I...apologize, InuYasha-sama. It was wrong of me to get angry when you asked me to behave. I am sorry I bit your ear."

InuYasha lifted his hand, as if he were going to pop the boy with his fist, and Shippou tensed, but instead, the hanyou ruffed his hair. "Next time, listen to me," he said. The kit nodded, then suddenly dashed off towards Kohaku and Rin.

Questioning eyes focused on Tsukikage. "Perhaps," Hakuzo said, "We should have some tea."

"Tea would be good," Kagome said. "I think that's something I could deal with." She turned away from the others to tend the fire and start the tea making, with InuYasha following quickly after her.

The group grew silent.

"Perhaps," Miroku said, looking at the group of kitsune and inu youkai, "Introductions would be in order? And maybe someone can tell me why we are all here in this strange place?"

"That," Tsukikage said, "is a long and sad story."

Teijo looked at the fox woman and sighed. "Perhaps," he said, "it's time to tell them."


	27. Odd Gatherings

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 27: Odd Gatherings

-------------------------------------

Light shines out, pure, clear,

into the realms of darkness,

compassion's bright hand.

Flowers and incense

we offer with our own hearts,

O Boddhisatva,

You who vowed to empty hell

before you would rest,

O Practitioner of mercy,

who brings the boat of compassion,

rescue those beings

drowning in suffering's sea,

caught up in their long dreaming,

burdened with karma

Requiem prayer

--------------------------------------

Jomei found himself...elsewhere. He did not know what to call it. It was a gray landscape, featureless, almost like being in a fog. Light was everywhere, but no source of the light, like a sun or a lamp could be seen. The air was very still, and he was neither hot nor cold.

"Am I dead?" he said. His voice sounded dull in the air, almost muffled. There was no answer.

He looked down at his clothing, the black hakama covering his legs, the dark robes covering his torso. He examined his hand It looked solid, normal. He flexed his fingers, looked at the back of his hand, ran a finger over a scar that he received when he was fifteen. He ran his hand over his head, and felt the nubbles as his too long unshaven head had begun to sprout hair again. His ankle, which had been so badly sprained was pain free and unbandaged.

He felt alive, and more like himself than he had felt in many days. So much had happened ever since he met that damned Kitsune who thought he understood the Lotus sutra. For once, all the fog was outside of himself, not in his mind.

Suddenly images of all he had seen and dreamed since then slipped into his memory, and he shuddered. "I vow to save all sentient beings," he muttered, and began to wonder, carefully and hesitantly, about what that vow might actually mean, and how youkai and other beings fit within it. The image of his sister drifted into his consciousness and the being she loved. He shook his head, unable yet to deal with the implications.

Not willing to touch that knot in his mind, he sat down and assumed a lotus posture. "Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu," he chanted, longing to lose his unease in the comfort of deep meditation.

He heard from no direction he could determine, a soft voice chant:

"Sentient beings,

Of whatever type or form,

Born of egg or womb,

Rising from moisture,

or born of unknown tranformation,

formless as the wind,

or bound in solid structure,

born able to think,

exempt from thought's need,

totally beyond thought's realm --

deva or asura,

all there to be led

to unbounded Nirvana."

Slowly light coalesced into a point, white against the grayness. A small shape stepped out of the light, also white and fleet of foot, which ran towards him. The white form, shapeless but with a painful brightness, stood in front of him, slowly dissolved and then reformed as a petite woman in a pale blue kimono, covered with snowflakes. Her eyes were an amazing shade of amber, and her long reddish hair streamed down her back, caught in a low pony tail. A white furry boa, looking very much like a white fox's tail, draped across one shoulder. She looked at him calmly and with familiarity.

"I know you," Jomei whispered, studying her face, her eyes. "But why? Are you a Kami?"

"You may call me Yuki, Jomei-sama," the woman said in a soft voice, making a very respectful bow.

"You...you're that fox who has been trailing me." he said. "But you have no jyaki, no youkai aura that I can feel. There is no darkness in you."

"Hai, Jomei-sama," she said, bowing once again. "I am but a spirit fox, the tool of my mistress, and what aura I have is hers. At the instruction of my Lady, I have been to watch over you during your dreams and visions."

Surprisingly, he felt no anger at her information. Nor, surprisingly, did he feel any uncomfortablenss at being in her presence.

"What is this place?" he asked after a moment.

"The place for your last revelation," she said.

The fox woman reached behind her, and from somewhere that he couldn't quite make out, she took out a rolled up red mat which she spread out in front of him. She repeated the moltion and pulled out three cushions, and then produced a low table. Reaching into the grayness, she returned with a set of tea cups and a teapot on a tray. Next she produced a steaming hot kettle. Shortly thereafter, she knelt down with great grace and began to prepare tea.

-------------------------------------------------

The darkness had solidly fallen across the clearing since the arrival of Tsukikage and the others.

Kagome tended the fire, making sure her tea kettle stayed hot, and looked around her. An uneasy circle of people had gathered around the fire sitting in clusters, the firelight flickering on their faces. InuYasha hovered near her, his body showing his unease as he sat with his hands in his sleeves, his ears twitching at each sound, as if on high alert for danger.

She slowly made the rounds of the circle, realizing how the seating reflected the uncertainties and attitudes of the travellers gathered together. Sesshoumaru sat not far from his brother, stiff, proper and unreadable, with Rin and Kohaku to his left. The two children talked softly to each other, with Rin showing Kohaku something she had made. Jaken sat slightly behind Sesshoumaru, clasping the staff of two heads quite tightly. To Kagome's left, Tsukikage sat on a fine blue mat, her skirts fanning out beautifully behind her, like a lady of importance. Her aura sparkled in the darkness, and the silk of her robe shone in the flickering light. Near her sat Hakuzo, lost deep in thought, and Teijo, who was sitting peacably, trying to behave in a relaxed manner, but keeping a cautious, if polite eye towards Sesshoumaru. Matsuo, as usual, was near Teijo, his staff resting in front of him. He and Miroku were discussing something quietly, something about Matsuo's monastery from the snippet Kagome overheard, while Sango sat not far from Kohaku. Shippou, entranced still by Tsukikage, sat in front of her, watching everything she did with huge eyes.

There was little sound besides the chatter of the children, the very soft talk between Miroku and Matsuo and the sounds of tea being consumed.

"Once, long ago, my family called this valley home," said Hakuzo.

The sudden sound of his voice startled Kagome as she looked up from her teapot. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes. In fact, I was born here. It was a kitsune holding allied with the Lord of the Western Lands for over a millenium. We haven't reached it yet, but there is a place further in the valley where my family had a stronghold It's all ruins, now, overgrown with trees. The kami of the place lets my sister Tama stays nearby to tend to our parents' graves, but I, I haven't been back there for probably 300 years."

"What happened?"

Sadness reflected across his face, and he looked down at his hands. "It's a long story, and a tragic one. Once, I had a beautiful sister named Nyoko, who was being trained in a special youjutsu by my brother's stepbrother Akai. I had two older brothers who I followed around like an abandoned puppy. Then one day, a young human came down the road, travelling across the mountains to the coast. He had been attacked by bandits and left to die. My brothers found him and brought him home, and my sister nursed him back to health. I suspect that if my father had known what was going to happen, he would have killed him on the spot.

"So much grief for so little reason," he mused.


	28. Fireside Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 28: Fireside Memories

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The elderly monk asked: "What is the dharma's great meaning?"

The Master replied: "Not doing evils, devoutly practicing every good."

The elderly monk said: "If that is so, then even a three-year-old child could say so."

The Master replied: "A three-year-old child maybe could say it, but even an elder in his eighties cannot practice it."

That being said, the elderly monk bowed and departed.

--Dogen, slightly adapted

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hakuzo sighed as Kagome refilled his teacup, his green eyes, firelit, focused far away. "It was a long time ago. The world has changed a lot since then. Back in those days, we only wrote in Chinese then; the kana had not yet been invented. The Gempei war had yet to happen. The Emperor had only recently moved to Kyoto. Yet so many things were still the same: people would fight for wealth or benefit, farmers would work their fields, and youkai and human, for the most part, went their own ways." he said, then took a drink of the tea.

Kagome walked back to sit next to InuYasha, who put a protective arm around her. Rin, ignoring the sad talk, giggled at something Kohaku was showing her.

"We were far away from most human activity," Hakuzo continued. Those who came with a good will, left talking about the blessing of Inari; those who came for ill, went away telling of the evils of kitsune and the tricks they played."

"My sister nursed the stranger back to health, and fell in love with him. Not an unheard of thing among kitsune, although even among kitsune, it's not a favored match, since it so often ends in grief between the partners or their children. But this man, Yashuo, was a sage, and he was carrying a token that should never have been brought near youkais. And he knew it, and didn't do anything about it. Disaster followed."

"Was this not about the time that Kukai returned from China and began to teach?" Miroku asked.

"You are right. He even had time for a curious little kitsune boy who was fascinated by all he had heard of the Buddha," Hakuzo said. "He was here when everything happened."

Finishing his tea, the old kitsune sighed. "I'm sorry, Kagome-sama, I really don't want to talk any more about it tonight."

"I slept in the past,

time that shall never return,

like it was today.

Around my pillow

I smelled the perfumes of those

never to return,

orange blossom drifting

in bittersweet reminder

of that which once was," Teijo recited. "I remember those days, too. They are hard to talk about."

Tsukikage reached out, and lightly touched Hakuzo on his shoulder. "I remember your father. I remember well the night he punished a man named Tokutaro for abusing his servants. He made the man think he had committed a grave offense, and shaved his head, telling him that his only escape from certain execution was to become a monk. I hear that when Tokutaro woke up in that field alone and shaven-headed, he immediately set out for someone to teach him about the Pure Land, and was always careful to honor Inari."

"Father was a kind man who loved both justice and mercy. And a good jest was not past him, either. "

Tsukikage reached out and petted the head of a sleeping Shippou, who had fallen asleep sitting next to her. "It is getting late. Perhaps it is time for all of us to follow this little one's example. My lady will no doubt explain what all this means tomorrow."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Jomei watched Yuki prepare tea, obviously for others coming to join them. Suddenly, there was a sweet, cool breeze, scented with the smell of pine forest, and he could hear the sounds of chimes in the wind. That was joined by the sound of a fall of water.

"My lady draws near," said Yuki, who was tending the braizier on which the kettle rested.

The grayness was pierced with a bright light, pure and intense. It slowly gained form as a white clad woman, beautiful, with intense eyes that caught Jomei's eyes. He felt himself being lost in those eyes, although he could not tell you what color they were, for the color seemed to shift from blue to dark to violet, as restless as water.

Her forehead was very high, and her smile was gentle, and she radiated a calm serenity. He could sense her aura, but it was not youki, nor was it a human ki, either, but something else. It touched his mind gently, like a caress, easing his anxieties, a feeling of home and peace and safety. For some reason he could not quite fathom, he found himself uncrossing his legs from his meditative pose and getting to his knees to bowing low.

Yuki stood and made a formal bow. " Welcome, Benzaiten-sama. I have prepared as you asked me."

"You have done well, Yuki-chan," she said softly. "Nyoko, come sit at my left." Behind her, Nyoko, dressed in red and gold, stepped forward, carrying her lady's biwa. Yuki helped her lady settle down on her cushion, spreading her many skirts in a graceful semi-circle around her, and Nyoko sat to her lady's left.

Benzaiten patted the red-headed kitsune's hand. "All will be well, Nyoko. Jomei has learned much the last few days, I believe." She looked deeply at the monk bowed low before her. "You may rise, monk," she said, and watched as he returned back to an upright posture.

"Now, Monk, I am sure you have many questions," said the kami. She motioned for Yuki to serve the tea. " We will drink tea, and contemplate beauty, and then we will see."

She waved her hand, and Jomei found himself looking at the source of water he had been hearing, a small rivulet running down a rock face. He was in a small garden, backed by a sheer wall on one end. They were surrounded by pine trees, and among the rocks grew angelica and fox flowers, and something else in little drifts. The garden was lit by lanterns throwing off a soft glowing light, and fireflies drifted lazily.

"I hope you enjoy the garden, Jomei-san," Benzaiten said. "It is fairer by day, but night has its certain charms."

At a nod from Benzaiten, Yuki served Jomei a small delicate cup of tea, which he took a first, tentative sip. The delicate fragrance teased his sense of smell, and the taste of the bitter drink seemed to bring him an extra sense of peace. He watched the dance of fireflies near beyond them all and sighed.

"Light in the darkness,

how quick each flickering life,

One swift summer's night, " he said softly.

"O very good, Master Monk!" said Benzaiten. "There is more to you than the pursuit of death in the name of light."

His face fell when she said that, staring into his cup. He could find no words to say.

"Do not look so low, Monk. I have brought you here for a reason," she said. "Are you vowed to save all sentient beings?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Tell me - are those you call youkai among the sentient beings?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Thus, are you vowed to save youkai as well as humans?"

"Yes," he replied.

"How should you save these sentient beings?" she asked.

Hanging his head, confused by days of dreams and uncertainty, he replied, "Once I thought it was by freeing them to be reborn human into the Pure Land." He swallowed. "But, after the lessons of the last few days, I fear you do not agree with that answer."

The kami smiled at him. "Let me tell you a story."

------------------------------------------------------

InuYasha tugged at Kagome's sleeve later as the circle began to break up into their on little knots for the evening. He nodded for her to follow him, and when they were a little further way, he knelt down.

"Get on," he said. "Let's go for a run."

Kagome climbed on, felt his strong hands take hold of her thighs. "What is it?" she asked, sensing the tension in his back as he held her. She leaned forward, nuzzling his neck. "Why are we out here?"

"It's been a day from hell. I need some peace, Kagome, and between my brother and uncle, monks and the kitsunes, I just need to get away so I can breath. Snooty human priest that they're guarding hasn't helped either. Kamis, kitsune disasters. If I could, I'd just leave them all here to fight it out."

She held on with her head against his shoulder, half cloaked with his streaming silver hair as they moved like quiet wind through the night.

They ran for awhile, until he said, "I think there's a spring up ahead."

They broke into the clearing, ringed with tall pines, standing like darker sentinals against a moonless sky. Soft tendrils of steam rose from a pool of black water. Overhead, they could make out the stars shining brightly and the white streak of the Milky Way.

"Will this do?" he asked, stopping and letting her slip off his back. " A couple of hours before moonrise," he said. "I'll make a fire."

"Yeah," she said.

Shortly, he had built a small fire, and in the flickering light, he laid out his suikan as an impromtu bedroll. The air was warm and still. Kagome slipped off her sandals and the two of them sat down on a rock at the edge of the spring, their backs to the light, caught up in the shadows. Kagome dangled her feet into the warm water, letting it relax her. She rested her head against InuYasha's shoulder, felt the rough linen of his kosode press into her cheek. After a few minutes of staring into the dark waters, his ears occasionally twitching as if straining for sound, he gave out a deep sigh, and wrapped his arm around her.

"I'd heard the story about what happened to Hakuzo's family before," InuYasha said after awhile.

"Oh?" said Kagome. She pulled her feet out of the water, and curled up against the hanyou, snuggling under the warmth of his suikan's sleeve and the warmth of his body.

"Yeah. Some kitsune unleased something really evil, and it managed to attack everyone who lived there. There was a holy man, I forget who, that helped push the evil back enough for the survivors to get away. But it left some presence there...everything I've heard has said the place was haunted by something really nasty. No one's been able to stay a night in the ruins and live. Most of those who tried, seem to run away with horror stories about black things coming out of the shadows to grab them. Never really thought it was a real story before, just another ghost story to scare folks."

He pulled Kagome into his lap, rested his chin on her head, idly ran the fingers of one hand around a strand of her black hair. "I guess Hakuzo and Tsukikage are kind of proof something happened."

"I have bad feelings," said Kagome, tilting her head back to look at him. "Is it just because we're getting close, I wonder? Just this place? Or is something about to happen?"

InuYasha nuzzled the shell of her ear, while his right hand traced lazy circles across her stomach. "I don't know," he whispered, breathing into her ear as he talked. She shivered a little at the feel of his breath and hand. "But I know I'd rather think about something else."

She ran a small fine hand along his thigh. "So would I," she said.

Lifting her up, he carried her back towards the fire and laid her down on the suikan. He pulled off his kosode, and rolled it into a small pillow to put under her head, the firelight dancing off the fine chiseled muscles of his arms and stomach, touching his hair with a warm golden glow.

"The next time I get the urge to go on a journey, shoot me with one of your arrows," he said, then laid down beside her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You have heard of Yomi?" asked Benzaiten, gracefully accepting a cup of tea from Yuki's hand.

"Of course, My Lady," Jomei said, also accepting another cup. He took a sip of the fragrant green drink, feeling the quality of the tea wash across his tongue. "It is the hell where Izanami is ruler, a place of corruption and darkness."

"Yes," said Benzaiten. "It is more than that. It is the negation of all that walks beneath the light. Where here, forces work for life and growth, the beings of Yomi work for death and darkness. The Kami of that place are gods and spirits of hate and anger, and many are the beings they use to bring this about."

The Kami sipped her tea, a long fingered and fine hand handling the cup with a beautiful grace. Her eyes, now stormy, drifted far away, gathering her thoughts. "Within Yomi, there are many beings who yearn to spread Yomi into the land of day. One such is Kurokongouseki. He is a fierce warrior fiend, an Asura who drinks the blood and spirit of those with youkai blood. He feeds off their power. He has vowed to free the world of all such, absorbing their strength and youki into himself until there are none who can restrict him.

"He is one of the reasons why so many times youkai and humans find themselves at such painful ends. But this is not enough for the evil one. Once, long ago, he found a way to cross the gulf between realms. He created a black amulet, small and lovely. If a youkai embraces this stone, and gives himself to the dark power within, it will open a doorway for the dark one to walk in the world of light. It is said that if Kurokongouseki is ever fully released, he will walk through the land until there are no supernatural beings left who can resist him and then he will release Yomi into the world of day. If he has his way, there will be no Heaven, Earth and Hell. There will only be Yomi in all three realms."

The monk shuddered as he suddenly began to get a glimmer of the darkness that had touched him.

"Once, long ago," the Kami continued, " A human was entrusted with this stone. He was attacked and left for dead. He was healed by a Kitsune woman. But one of her kin became infected by the dark one."

"But my lady, what has this to do with me?" Jomei asked.

"I need you to help me defeat him."


	29. Breakthrough

Disclosure: I do not own InuYasha or any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi

The Evil in Men's Hearts

Chapter 29: Breakthrough

---------------------------------------------

How easy to cut

swift with but a single blow -

to avoid the cut

bearing down on you is hard.

Though he intends to strike,

though he advances to cut,

above all stay calm,

allow him yet to come forth,

allow him to strike out

as you keep your distance.

Making no contact,

his strike falls as a dead blow.

--adapted from Yagyu Munenori

-----------------------------------------------

Kagome awoke to the smell of cooking meat. Blinking her eyes against the light, she slowly stretched out and sat up.

"Good morning," InuYasha said. She turned around to see him sitting by the campfire, tending a roasting rabbit. He was wearing his kosode and hakama, and the sunlight glinted off his silvery hair. He cocked an amused smile her way as he watched her sitting there, letting the kosode she had used as a blanket slip away and reveal her state of undress.

"Like what you see?" she said, smiling back.

"As much as I liked it last night," he replied, testing the rabbit for doneness. "But you might want to get dressed. I wouldn't put it past someone to come looking for us."

She shrugged into her white inner kosode and picked up his suikan and handed it to him before she finished getting dressed. "It was so nice to just get away for awhile," she said, tying her obi. "I hadn't realized how tense I had become these last few days."

"It has been a wild few days." He took the rabbit off the fire, and using a flat rock, began to cut it into eating-sized pieces. Kagome came and sat down next to InuYasha, and watched as he picked up a piece of the meat with his claws, and lifted it to her mouth. She accepted the piece and began chewing thoughtfully.

"What do you think will happen today?" she asked.

"Hell if I know," he said, taking his own piece. "Never had much dealings with kami before. You still have bad feelings about things?"

She nodded. "There's something really dark not far from here. It's not youki, but I don't know what it is."

"Well, there's something more going on than just a crazy monk attacking youkai, that's for sure," InuYasha said. His ears began to twitch as he heard something.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Someone's coming. Stand up and get behind me. I'm not sure what it is yet." He stood with his hand on the hilt of his sword, waiting, as Kagome moved behind him.

There was a brief flash of light not far from where they were. Not long after, a small red-headed woman dressed in a pale blue kimono walked into the clearing.

"Another kitsune?" InuYasha said.

The newcomer smiled slightly, and bowed politely. "Yes, InuYasha-sama, another kitsune. I am Yuki. Would you please come with me? My lady asks for your presence."

-----------------------------------------------------------------

In the heart of Rinji, a cold wind blew that made the heart feel uneasy. It danced around the small hut not too far from the ruins of the old keep, rattling boards. Inside, sitting among her fibers and her yarns, Tama pulled an extra kosode around her slender form tightly, and considered adding some more wood to the fire. Yet the light from the window near her loom was still bright and clear, illuminating the pattern of blue and white she was working on. It was not the first time she felt foreboding sweeping in on the wind. Living so close to the source of all that was dark here, she had gotten used to ignoring it. But today, there was something extra bitter in it.

She stirred the wood in her fire pit, poured herself a cup of tea, and went back to work at her loom. After tucking a red strand of hair behind her ear, she then stepped on the loom's foot control and threw the shuttle, suppressing the unease building in the back of her mind. To break the sighing of the wind, she sang as the passed the shuttle through the raised threads of her weaving.

"Autumn evening falls

and there among the wild pinks

and in the kudzu,

I ask what he thinks,

the little insect chirping.

"In the bush clover

they gather to sing their song,

In the pampas grass

they call there so long,

in the ague weed sweetly.

"Throughout the twilight

dancing in the bellflower,

in the golden lace

singing the hour

As the darkness gathers in.

"And yet their chirping

will pale into the background

when my eye sees you

a flash of light found

firefly silent in the night."

Suddenly a large rat, nearly the size of a cat, ran along side of her loom, and climbed up on a basket of yarn, and calmly began cleaning its whiskers and shiny black fur.

"Nezumi!" she said, quite startled. The rat looked up, and she swore it smiled.

"You sing as lovely as ever, Tama," said a warm and pleasant man's voice behind her.

She turned and looked, and saw Daikokuten standing in her doorway, his dancing eyes almost laughing at her. Standing up, she bowed formally. "It has been a long time, Koku-sama."

"It has indeed," the kami said, smiling gently at her. His face, though not that of a young man, broke into pleasant lines with his smile, and she relaxed as she watched. Suddenly, he took on a serious look as he stroked his beard and rubbed his cap against his head. "Too long since I've stopped by last, and it is my fault. Nonetheless, we may not stay and talk. It is time for you to leave."

"The darkness..." she said.

"Yes. " He held up the door mat to the hut, and from where she stood, she saw a column of stormy darkness rising up from the old ruins not far from her hut. The column reached up towards the sky, churning with winds not from the weather.

"I've never seen it that bad before, she said.

"Kukai's wards are failing. I do not know how much time we have left," said the kami. "Come with me. You do not want to be here if he breaks through."

She nodded, took his offered hand. With one last, fond look at her weaving, she followed him towards the light.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Master Jaken, Master Jaken," said Rin. "Look at the sky!"

From where they stood, they looked into the sky at the ominous dark column. The small green youkai looked up, and a deeper frown than normal creased his face. "I must report this to Sesshoumaru-sama."

"What is it, Master Jaken?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said, running towards the daiyoukai. "Sesshoumaru-sama! Seshoumaru-sama!" he cried out as he was running, trying hard not to drop the staff he was clutching.

Ah Uhn also saw it, and began to act skittish, as if it was something that the two-headed creature would prefer to avoid.

"Is something wrong, Rin?" said Kohaku, coming up and laying a hand on the dragonet to quiet the creature.

"Look over there," the girl told Kohaku, pointing to the column.

Matsuo saw the children and turned to look in the direction they were pointing. "Is it..."

Teijo looked up from where he had been cleaning his sword. "The barriers are shaking," he said. Miroku left Sango, who was repacking their gear, and came and stood next to the two Inu youkai. "Behold a glimpse of the darkest hell, Yomi," Teijo said.

Tsukikage stood up, her silk skirts swirling around her, then cocked her head as if she were listening to someone. Straightening up, she said "We must go. Now."

White light abruptly filled the clearing. Suddenly all of them were somewhere else.

"Oh my," said Sango.


	30. A Garden of Many Bowers

_Disclosure: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**The Evil in Men's Hearts**

_**Chapter 30: A Garden of Many Bowers**_

--

_There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth;_

_Indeed, it has no form, much less a name;_

_Eyes fail to see it; It has no voice for ears to detect;_

_To call it Mind or Buddha violates its nature,_

_For it then becomes like a visionary flower in the air;_

_It is not Mind, nor Buddha;_

_Absolutely quiet, and yet illuminating in a mysterious way,_

_It allows itself to be perceived only by the clear-eyed._

_It is Dharma truly beyond form and sound;_

_It is Tao having nothing to do with words._

_Wishing to entice the blind,_

_The Buddha has playfully let words escape his golden mouth;_

_Heaven and earth are ever since filled with entangling briars_.

**Dai-o Kokushi, **from_**On Zen**_

--

InuYasha and Kagome followed Yuki down the path she had come. Suddenly, the air around them shimmered, and they were someplace else.

Instead of being on the path leading back to the clearing, suddenly, with one step, they found them standing next to a small waterfall cascading down a sheer rock face.

"I must leave you here," said Yuki. "But my Lady will be joining you shortly." She stepped a few steps away and seemed to vanish.

"What the --" said InuYasha, grabbing the handgrip of Tessaiga. He turned around, and he no longer saw the path he had walked up, but instead, an expanse of garden.

"You are not where you were before you stepped through the portal, InuYasha son of the Great Dog. I have brought you and your wife here to safety," said a lilting and soothing voice.

InuYasha swung around, putting himself between Kagome and the source of the voice.

He turned and saw her. Her long dark hair swept nearly to the ground, contrasting with the soft whiteness of her uchikake and the many pastel kosode she wore layered beneath it. Even in the bright light of daylight, her skin and calm dark eyes seemed to glow.

Peaking around his shoulders, Kagome whispered, "She's not a youkai, InuYasha. She has an amazing aura."

"You are quite right, Kagome-sama. I am Benzaiten." At a sign from her, Tsukikage followed by another woman dressed in red stepped out from somewhere. "You already know Tsukikage," Benzaiten said. "And this is Nyoko, sister to the Kitsune Hakuzo, with whom you have been spending time." Together, the two Kitsune women rolled out mats.

"You...you're a Kami?" said Kagome.

The woman smiled. "There are those who call me that. I like to think of myself as a helper, or perhaps a guardian. Rinji is one of those places where the gateway into Yomi is very close. And one of my roles is to guard the gateway."

InuYasha and Kagome sank down on the pro-offered mat. "The darkness at the heart of Rinji is breaking through the barriers set long ago," Tsukikage said, handing Kagome a cup of tea she produced from somewhere unseeable. "My lady has brought you and all your companions to this place to protect you." She handed InuYasha a teacup, which he stared at like it would bite him.

Nyoko and Tsukikage rolled out a mat and cushion for the Kami, then helped her sit gracefully, spreading her skirts around her in a graceful semicircle.

"They are all safe, InuYasha-sama. All your companions, even the monk who spoke ill of you. They are, you might say, in different rooms of this place, the doorways of which are invisible to all but those who dwell with me.

"But I wished to speak with you and Kagome-sama first. I offer you a choice," she said. "There is a great battle about to take place. One of the dark souls from Yomi is trying to break through into the world of sunshine, and I must fight to keep the gateway closed. I give you the opportunity to leave while there is still time. Or, if you wish, you can stay and help us put an end to the evil one who is threatening us all."

"We'll stay," said Kagome without any hesitation, resting a hand on InuYasha's.

InuYasha looked at Kagome, surprise registering on his face. "You sure?"

"I still remember my dream. That's what will happen if we don't succeed," she whispered. "Even if you want to go, I'm staying."

"Like hell will I leave you here alone, woman," he replied.

"It looks like we'll be staying," he said.

--

The place they found themselves in was gray.

It was light, but there was no source of light noticeable. It was not exactly like being in a fog, for there was no wetness to the air, and they could see their fellow travelers with no wisps of fog wrapping around anything. Even the ground below their feet was the same shade of gray that they saw looking off into the distance and up at the sky above.

"O my," said Sango, turning in a circle and looking around her. "Where are we?"

Miroku put his hand on her shoulder and looked around as well. "I cannot sense any evil here," he said. "The only auras I feel are from us."

Shippou jumped onto his shoulder. "The air smells . . . strange. Like it has no real smells that belong here. Just us."

"Perceptive, little one," said Hakuzo. "That's exactly right. I can't smell the ground or anything blowing in the wind or trees. I've never smelt air that smelt so . . . so . . . "

"Sterile, my friend?" said Teijo.

"Yes, that's the word." The Kitsune shivered. "It's like we're the only people here in a place that knows nothing but us." He looked around the gray space they were in. "Where is Sesshoumaru?" he asked. "And where is Tsukikage?"

The Daiyoukai, along with Rin and Jaken and his dragonet, was missing. Matsuo and Saichi his prisoner, was also gone.

"Where's Kohaku?" Sango asked.

"He was with Rin right before this happened," said Hakuzo. "I imagine he's wherever they are."

Walking out of the gray like she was stepping through a door, a small woman with red hair entered the area, carrying a tray.

"Please, everyone, be seated. You are all very well safe and out of harm, and your companions are as equally safe. I am Yuki, and my lady bids me come and offer you refreshments until she is ready to speak with you."

--

One moment, Matsuo was in the clearing where so much had taken place, then the next moment, he found himself standing in a small hondo, the Buddha hall of a small temple. In front of him was the statue of Kwannon of the Thousand Hands, Bodhisattva of mercy.

"A tenth of an inch's difference,

And heaven and earth are set apart;

If you wish to see it before your own eyes,

Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it," he quoted.

Immediately he gassho'd in front of the image. A small tendril of incense trickled upwards from the burner on the butsudan, the altar. Someone had placed fresh flowers on it, and a small lamp gave off light. Looking around the room, he saw another monk kneeling to his right. The room was Spartan, but very clean. Light filtered in from the doors. To his left, Saicho knelt, still bound.

He turned next to him, and removed the ofuda, and cut his bonds. "I don't know what's happened, but it seems wrong to leave you like that in this place," he said.

Saicho rolled his shoulders and rubbed his wrists. He tried to stand, and Matsuo helped him rise on his wobbly legs. Standing, he bowed towards the butsudan. He turned back to Matsuo, giving him a strange, wild-eyed look. "I don't know how I got here, inside a Zen temple, or even where here is. But I will let you know this: I will try to leave again if you leave me unbound," he told the youkai. "I am obligated to return to my brothers."

Matsuo gave him a small smile. "I do not begrudge you your freedom. I have kept you alive when Sesshoumaru-sama would have taken your life. Whatever brought us here is obviously stronger than he is. I just ask that you do not smack me with my own staff or decorate me in rice to do it."

The monk to their right stood up, and turned to face them. His face was haggard and tired, and there were dark circles under his eyes. His head was in need of being freshly shaven.

"Is that you, Saicho? I thought you were in the east still," said the monk. "And you, youkai - do you still chant the Heart Sutra with such finesse?"

Simultaneously, both Matsuo and Saicho said, "Master Jomei?"

--

Sesshoumaru found himself in a pleasant, quiet garden, much like his own private garden back home. It was mostly green, shrubs, trees, grass, with small drifts of blue, yellow and red flowers scattered among the rocks, a calming place.

"Ooooh," said Rin as she realized she was no longer in the forest clearing. "This is pretty." She ran to examine the flowers.

"Where are we?" said Kohaku. He steadied the dragonet with a practiced movement, and watched, fascinated as a dragonfly passed by to observe them. The dragonfly flew off, and he turned to the tall, white-garbed youkai. "Sesshoumaru-sama, do you recognize this place?"

From somewhere nearby, there came the sound of running water, the cascading sound of a small waterfall. The enclosed space, surrounded by hill slopes and a rock face, was nestled by the swaying of pine trees on the heights, like dark sentries. Overhead, the sky was blue. Not a single cloud passed by.

"Boy, do not bother Sesshoumaru with useless questions," said the little green youkai. The Staff of Two Heads wiggled precariously in his grip as he swerved around. "Where is everybody else?"

"Jaken, be silent," Sesshoumaru said, turning in a full circle, observing the garden he found himself in. "The air smells . . . unnatural. There is no smell of decay here," he muttered. "It is like nothing here has ever died."

Out of sight, a biwa began playing. It was a tune that the Daiyoukai remembered from childhood, something that his mother would hum to him on those days when she still tolerated him near her. A voice began to sing:

"If you ask the birds

as they fly over the waves

when the high tide comes,

they cry out, cry out

that they are only sea birds,

birds, they know the air.

Ask the waves about the tides,

Ask the rolling sea.

"If you ask the blossoms,

Sakura petals falling

In the breeze of spring

To tell you of the winter,

winter with its snow,

They'll say that they are petals,

blossoms in the wind.

Ask the trees about the snow,

ask the ancient trees."

Sesshoumaru's eyes grew wide as the familiar, nearly forgotten, words filled the garden. A woman's voice, soft and delicate. He turned around, trying to sense her. A certain warmness seemed to grow on the air, not of temperature, but of peace and comfort. Even though his instincts were screaming to stay alert, Sesshoumaru found his youki calming.

"Oh, she's beautiful," said Rin. Sesshoumaru looked behind him.

"Welcome to my garden," said Benzaiten.


	31. Down the Garden's Twisting Paths

_Disclosure: I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters created by Rumiko Takahashi_

**The Evil In Men's Hearts**

_**Chapter 31: Down the Garden's Twisting Paths**_

--

_Wishing to entice the blind,_

_The Buddha has playfully let words escape his golden mouth;_

_Heaven and earth are ever since filled with entangling briars._

_O my good worthy friends gathered here,_

_If you desire to listen to the thunderous voice of the Dharma,_

_Exhaust your words, empty your thoughts,_

_For then you may come to recognize this One Essence_.

**Dai-O Kokushi**, _**On Zen**_

--

"Master Jomei?" Saicho and Matsuo asked in the meeting room of the temple they found themselves in.

"You have been looking for me, Youkai monk, have you not?" said Jomei. "Well, here I am. Is this not a peaceful place.?"

"Yes, it is, I think," Matsuo replied. "But I'm not sure where here is."

"Think of it as a resting place," Jomei said. "If you pay attention, you may learn something. Saicho-san, you particularly pay attention. "

Jomei walked towards the door of the hondo, and stared out at the vista beyond. "Once, it is said, that an abbot was giving a series of sermons. At each sermon, he noticed an elderly man who followed the monks into the hondo, and when the sermon was over, he would leave.

"After one sermon, the old man stayed behind. The abbot asked the old man, 'Who are you?' and the man said, 'I am not a human being. Once, long ago, I too was an abbot who taught the monks in charge of me, but one day, a young man came up to me and asked a question. Thinking I knew everything, I gave him an answer that seemed right to me, but was wrong. Because of my hubris, I was sentenced to live as a fox for five hundred lifetimes on this mountain. I now will ask you the question that was asked of me so many years ago: Is the holy man free from the yoke of cause and effect?'

"The abbot looked at the kitsune standing in front of him. 'The enlightened man cannot ignore the cycle of cause and effect.'"

Jomei turned back and looked at the two men who were looking at him.

"I feel that since I entered Rinji, I have been that Kitsune, living lifetime after lifetime to learn a lesson that I, in my own blindness should have known all along. I vowed to save all sentient beings. The Buddha declared all sentient beings were his children. Who was I to decide which sentient beings could be saved or not by the way I followed? So much I assumed was hate disguised as light and has let me be the tool of Yomi. The kitsune was freed by death and the monks buried him as one of their own. I wonder what will happen to me?"

"Master Jomei?" said Saicho.

"Do not call me master. I am not worthy to be anyone's master," he replied, then recited:

"O Practitioner of mercy,

who brings the boat of compassion,

rescue those beings

drowning in suffering's sea,

caught up in their long dreaming,

burdened with karma."

"Once I thought I was the tool for that compassion. I was a fool," he said, and walked out of the building.

"Welcome to my garden," said Benzaiten.

Dressed in multiple layers of shimmering white silk, she walked gracefully to stand nearer to the youkai and his entourage. In her hand she carried a single white lily.

Kohaku whispered to Rin, "She looks like the Snow Woman."

That brought a chuckle from the Kami's lips. "Do you think so, Kohaku-kun? I hear she is very beautiful, although I heard she does not like the spring. As you can see, it is spring here. She does not come and visit me."

Behind her, Tsukikage appeared, carrying a mat and cushions. The spirit fox maiden helped Benzaiten sit, spreading her skirts in a bright sweep of white silk, then arranged the cushions for the others. Nyoko, dressed in red, stepped out forward, carrying a footed tray, which she placed in front of Benzaiten, and took up a position to her left.

At a flick of Tsukikage's fan, a breeze blew, carrying the sound of flowing water and the scent of wisteria.

"Will you not sit down with me, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Benzaiten asked.

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes narrowed as he watched the woman sitting down before him. They looked at each for a moment, not speaking. With a small tilt of his head, he settled on one of the cushions, and motioned for the others to join him.

Looking squarely at Benzaiten, he said, "You are not human."

"That is correct. I am not," she said, nodding her head.

"Nor are you youkai," he continued.

"This is also true," Benzaiten replied. Carefully, and with skill, she poured tea for her guests. "Rin, be sure to have one of the mochi cakes. I do believe you will like them."

The small girl, looked up at Sesshoumaru, who nodded. She took a bite, and smiled broadly.

Surprisingly, Jaken remained quiet during this exchange. He opened his mouth once or twice to say something, but no words came out. Kohaku silently sat next to Rin, and ate a cake, but said nothing, and instead, watched first the Daiyoukai and the Kami.

Suddenly, in the far distance, there was a loud boom. At it's sound, Nyoko's head turned, then she slowly sighed, dropping her head down, staring at her hands.

"Another ward has failed," Benzaiten said calmly, reaching out to touch Nyoko's hand. "But the disaster is not yet upon us. He is still contained." Looking at Sesshoumaru, she continued, " But we really do not have much time."

Sipping her tea, she said, "Let me tell you a story..."

--

Tama walked down the garden path, laughing as Nezumi ran circles around Daikokutan's feet. Suddenly the rodent ran around the bend and a woman shrieked.

"I see my friend has found someone," said the Kami.

Suddenly, the rodent came running towards Daikokutan, being chased by a white shape. The rat ran up the Kami's body, to pause on his shoulder, and begin grooming his whiskers. He looked at the rat. "You need to stop tormenting the foxes. One day they will catch you, and then where will I be?"

The white shape paused, shimmered, and transformed into the shape of Yuki. Taking several deep breaths, she shook her head, and smoothed down the pale blue silk of her kosode, dropping her eyes as she worked to regain her composure as a graceful lady in waiting and not a fox in fast pursuit.

"Excuse me, Daikokutan-sama, but your rat startled me. I did not realize it was Nezumi." She bowed deeply.

The rat on his shoulder chattered in her direction, then turned his back.

"Now, Nezumi, that's no way to behave. Has she ever caught you?" said Daikokutan.

Tama, trying to suppress a giggle, came up to the girl, and adjusted her hair where it had come down in her pursuit. "Oh Yuki! Are you still trying to catch Nezumi? You know Koku-sama won't ever let you get to him.

"My, my, let me look at you. I worked on that kosode a long time, and you look so nice in it! How come you never came to my house wearing it to let me see how it draped on you? Lady Benzaiten had given me the nicest silk to use to make it." She walked around the woman, admiring her handiwork.

The Kami laughed at the consternation on the Kitsune's face. "Come, Yuki-san. I am looking for Teijo the Inu Youkai. Do you know where he is?"

Smiling a little at Tama, she bowed again to the Kami. "Yes, my Lord. If you follow me, I will take you to him."

Hearing a loud boom, he and the fox women turned and looked, seeing the column of smoke drift higher. "One less thing holding him in the fortress," he muttered. "Lady Benzaiten had better get ready to move, and soon."

--

InuYasha held Kagome in his lap, her back snuggled up against his chest as they sat beneath the old cherry tree.

"Now tell me again why you told the Lady Benzaiten why we would help?" he asked, his arms wrapped around her.

"I was thinking about the dream I had. I told you that. This huge field of dead youkai, and each of them had died in blood and pain. Sesshoumaru was there, and Shippou-chan was there. Even youkai like Kirara. Cold, stiff and wounded badly. But worst for me, what woke me up, was finding you." She leaned back into his arms. InuYasha pulled her in closer to him.

"It was just a dream, Kagome," InuYasha said. He gently kissed the top of her head, trying to calm the agitation she felt.

"No, I don't think it was." She turned, so she could look him in the eyes. "I think I was picking up on the demon in the fortress. He's very dark and alien, InuYasha. Naraku was dark, but he was not as black as what I felt. Naraku understood, at least, what it meant to do the things he was doing from a human's point of view. He wanted power, and he had desires that I could understand. But this monster, he wants these things because he thinks they are pleasant. Death looks beautiful to him, smells sweet, and youkai death feels best of all. He would landscape the earth with bleached bones and dead skulls, and call it a garden.

Her eyes shone with a bright, determined intensity. She reached out and touched his face, gently. "This is something we have to do, InuYasha. We can't let that out. If we couldn't let Naraku to what he wanted, we can't let this out. This is worse."

Something cold touched him as she talked. He hugged her closer.

A branch snapped behind them. InuYasha turned to look, and a tired and haggard looking man in monks robes walked into the garden clearing.

"A hanyou and a miko," the monk said thoughtfully. "That's a sight you don't see every day."

"Excuse me, sir, but I am not a miko," Kagome replied.

"You may not wear the robes," he said. "But you are one. I could feel your aura a good bit before I saw you sitting here." The monk sat down on the grass, not far from them, but looked over the horizon instead of at them.

"Once upon a time, I suspect I would have been rather upset to see a hanyou sitting so intimately with a miko like you," he said.

"She is my wife, Monk," growled InuYasha. "And I am her protector." He sat up taller, wrapped one arm more tightly around Kagome and clutched his sword with the other.

"Relax, friend. I mean you no harm. That was once upon a time. I have been given . . . new insight on things lately." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Things aren't as necessarily so simple. Or so I have been shown."

They heard the explosion as the ward failed. "I think," said the monk, "that our real enemy is that way," he nodded to the direction of the castle.

Suddenly, a dark shape dropped out of the trees nearby. "Ah, there you are, Master Jomei. I'd wondered where you had gone," said Matsuo.

"Sit down, youkai Monk," Jomei directed. "Perhaps you would like to chant the Heart Sutra for us today. I am sure we can use the blessings of the Buddha on what is going to happen."

"Jomei?" said InuYasha.


End file.
